Airport Advisory Committee gives nod for land acquisition

AAI working closely with Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments to expedite process: Airport Director

The Airport Advisory Committee (AAC), which met on Friday, gave its approval to acquire necessary land to expand the Puducherry runway.

The Committee headed by Member of Parliament V. Vaithilingam gave approval for the process to acquire land for the runway expansion.

The AAC included local legislator, Collector, Senior Superintendent of Police, officials from municipal administration and Airports Authority of India. The committee meets every six months to discuss issues pertaining to the administration of the airport.

“Besides giving a nod to acquire land for runway expansion, we also asked the AAI to speed up all the processes so that Puducherry gets a bigger airport to operate wide-bodied aircrafts,” Mr. Vaithilingam told The Hindu.

The committee requested the current flight operator, Spicejet, to provide connectivity to more destinations. The meeting asked the flight service provider to consider starting flights to Goa, Tirupati, Shirdi and Kannur (in Kerala), he said.

“Adding more flights to these destinations is very important. Hundreds of people travel by road or train to Tirupati on a daily basis. Providing air connectivity will be useful for the residents. Similarly, operating a flight to Kannur will also help the residents of Mahe,” Mr. Vaithilingam said.

Director of Puducherry Airport Vijay Upadhya, said the AAI was working closely with Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments to expedite land acquisition. “Officials from Civil Aviation Ministry and AAI have made several visits to Puducherry in the recent months. The Ministry is very keen on the development of the airport,” he explained.

Legislator representing Kalapet PML Kalyanasundaram and Collector E. Vallavan were among those present.