The government has formally approached SpiceJet to resume flight services from Puducherry.
“We have formally requested the operator to resume services from the airport at the earliest as several COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. The tourism sector is slowly picking up and so resumption of flight operations will further add momentum to the tourism activity,” Public Works Minister K. Lakshminarayanan told The Hindu .
The management of SpiceJet has assured the government of an early decision, once the chairman and managing director of the service provider returned from abroad, said Mr. Lakshminarayanan, who also holds the Civil Aviation portfolio.
Before the outbreak of the pandemic, SpiceJet had operated daily flights to Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
The Minister said the Public Works Department had been directed to assist the Airports Authority of India to facilitate all weather runway clearance, he said.
The runway should have good vision clearance of 140 m on both sides.
The present clearance was only about 90 m on both sides from the middle of the runway which hampered landing, especially during winter season, the Minister said.
“The PWD will soon start pruning of trees and provide signal facility on certain buildings adjacent to the airport,” he also added.
