Air India flights restoration to be taken up with Minister

The popular demand for restoration of cancelled and curtailed Air India Express flights to various foreign destinations from Tiruchi will be taken up with Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, said P. Kumar, MP and Chairman of the Airport Advisory Committee, here on Saturday.

With the withdrawal and cancellation of 10 flights a week, the total number of flights operated by the airline from Tiruchi has come down to 24 from 34 flights a week. Among the flights curtailed were those on the Tiruchi-Kuala Lumpur sector.

The airline has been intermittently announcing the cancellation of flights since December and recently announced the withdrawal and curtailments of various flights till the end of March. The travel trade and travellers have been demanding the restoration of the curtailed and cancelled flights.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr. Kumar said he had taken up the matter with the Civil Aviation Ministry and he would take it up with the new Civil Aviation Minister.

He pointed that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, whose Srirangam constituency was in Tiruchi, was keen on developing the infrastructure of the district and it was essential that air connectivity to the city was strengthened.

Improving amenities

Elaborating on the deliberations of the Airport Advisory Council meeting, Mr. Kumar said steps were being taken to improve passenger amenities at the airport. A building to house a restaurant outside the airport terminal would be built at a cost of Rs.10 lakh and would be ready by May.

Efforts were also on to introduce a pre-paid taxi system for the benefit of passengers; introduction of WiFi connectivity at the airport and increasing the conveyor belts for baggage.

Mr. Kumar also disclosed that the Airport Advisory Committee has been expanded to give it a wider representation, especially to the industry. Accordingly, representatives of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Tiruchi District Small and Medium Scale Industries Association and BHEL Small Scale Industries Association have been made members of the committee.

A canopy for visitors outside the terminal building is being planned under the proposal to expand the airport terminal building. The terminal building is to be expanded on either sides for about 80 metres. Once the expansion was done, the terminal would be able to handle 800 passengers at a time, double its present capacity of 400 passengers. A third aerobridge would also come up under the expansion project.

Answering a query, Mr.Kumar said that he was pursuing with different Central Ministries various development proposals for the city including the construction of overbridges and the demand for restoration of the Rockfort Express to Tiruchi.