Stakeholders of the tourism industry in Mysuru on Tuesday said the direct flight service between Mysuru and Sindhudurg (in Maharashtra) , which is expected to start on February 1, may not be useful in meeting the travel needs of the people here. There is a demand for direct flights to Tirupati and Shirdi, and another flight to Goa, and flights to these destinations will largely benefit locals besides boosting tourism, especially religious tourism. A lot of people from Mysuru travel to the places, they said.
A member of the Mysuru Airport Advisory Committee, B.S. Prashanth said the Alliance Air is launching the flight service to Sindhudurg in Konkan region of Maharashtra but the people in travel and tourism industry were never consulted before introducing the service.
“I was not aware of the launch, being the advisory committee member. We had actually sought flights to locations such as Tirupati, and Shirdi for which there is a big demand from our clients. The Sindhudurg flight may not be able to generate passengers and people from Mysuru have no connection with the city in Maharashtra. A flight to Mumbai would have been better. Any discontinuation of flights due to lack of passengers will have a bearing on the Mysuru airport,” felt Mr. Prashanth, who is also the president of Federation of Organisations and Associations of Mysuru.
The matter has been discussed with Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, he added.
In fact, there is a demand for flight services to Kochi from Mysuru which was stopped some two months ago. Flights to Kochi will improve tourism in Mysuru as there are enquiries from tourists who visit the Kerala city for wellness tourism and wish to travel to sites of tourist importance in neighboring States, he explained.
