Making a strong business case for expanding the Mysuru airport in view of its tourism and investment potential and to provide air connectivity with major commercial cities of Karnataka, the authorities have set August 15 as the deadline for completing a joint survey for land acquisition to kick start phase II of the project (airport expansion).
With proposals in the offing for additional flights from Mysuru to the rest of Karnataka and other cities under the regional connectivity scheme, the airport expansion work will be put on fast track with a definite time frame.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) has already issued security clearance for the proposed underpass in which the existing four-lane National Highway 766 (previously 212) will pass below the runway, the work on highway diversion and runway expansion will also be taken up concomitantly subject to completion. Incidentally, Mysuru is among the only two cities in India to which the BCAA has issued clearance for an underpass below the runway; the other being Varanasi.
The joint survey to be taken up by the Revenue Department, Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and Airport Authority of India (AAI), will be done and preliminary notification for land acquisition, would be issued by August 15, according to G.T. Deve Gowda, Minister for Higher Education and local area MLA.
The runway expansion requires an additional 280 acres of land against which nearly 188 hectares is already in possession of the KIADB. Airport authorities here said the existing flight to Chennai had tremendous response and the ATR plane with a seating capacity of 72 passengers was flying with more than 60 passengers per day. There was demand for additional flights to other destinations, mainly, Kochi, Goa, Hyderabad and Mumbai. But introduction of long distance flights was limited by the short runway of Mysuru airport.
The master plan for Mysuru airport envisages increasing the length of the runway from the existing 1,740 meters to 2,400 meters. The cost of the expansion has been pegged at ₹700 crore and this includes the construction of an underpass and road diversion which requires coordination with the National Highway Authority of India.
Once the underpass is ready, the runway extension work will take place, said AAI officials, who briefed the Pratap Simha, Mysuru MP. The officials said the objective is to facilitate the operation of Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 to provide connectivity from Mysuru to the rest of India. They said a survey indicated that the originating air passenger traffic from Mysuru was not less than 1,500 passengers per day but the potential was not fully tapped.
