CII report makes strong case for intl airport at Madurai

Considering its huge growth potential in terms of tourism, business, domestic and international passengers and air cargo traffic, a serious consideration should be made to convert Madurai airport into an international airport, a CII study recommends to the ministry of civil aviation and the Airports Authority of India.

The CII report also urges international airlines to look at Madurai as a hub to the Southern districts of the state.

According to the CII report released in Chennai on Tuesday, the traffic at the Madurai airport is projected to grow from the current base of 1.58 lakh for 2004-05 to over 6 lakh by 2011. This represents a growth of about 25% per year. Further, the cargo traffic is also projected to grow from the current level of 1642 tonnes to about 3000 tonnes by 2011.

Given the number of international travellers from Madurai and neighbouring districts to the Gulf, South-East Asia and Sri Lanka, most of whom currently use the Chennai and Tiruchirapalli airports, the report recommends that there is an adequate demand for the government to seriously consider granting an 'International airport' status to Madurai.

Low-cost aviation is seen to be the main driver for the air traffic growth in Madurai. All the major airlines, which have operations in Madurai, witness substantial growth in capacity utilisations. The present trend of AC Class rail passengers opting to travel by air is expected to continue, leading to a substantial increase in air traffic.

The report also urges revival of operations at the Tuticorin airport, with Tuticorin aiming to be a hub port. This would also benefit cargo traffic headed to the Gulf from Madurai. This cargo presently goes through Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram.

However, the government is understood to have plans to invest up to Rs 150 crore in a phased manner to upgrade the Madurai airport. This would place it in a position to cater to 24 flights a day, which would be adequate for the traffic projected in the short to medium term.

While industrial development in Madurai was limited in the past, the report foresees good prospects for development of the services industry given its strong infrastructure in professional education. This is expected to substantially increase business travel to and from Madurai.

On the tourism front, CII expects Madurai to capitalise on the strong growth projected for tourism in the country as a whole.

With the Madurai Meenakshi temple continuing to be a major attraction for tourists visiting Tamil Nadu and the State Government's initiatives to bolster tourism in the city, which includes the hosting of a travel mart every two years, tourism in Madurai is expected to register a growth of over 10 per cent.

On the basis of the report, CII proposes to initiate a dialogue with the authorities concerned in the civil aviation ministry to explore the possibility of converting the Madurai airport into an international airport.

It also plans to gauge the interest of major airlines operating in the South in expanding the connectivity of Madurai to destinations within and outside India.