Our Bureau

Chennai , Jan. 7

THE Pondicherry Department of Tourism has called for expressions of interest from licensed aircraft operators to fly into the Union Territory using the airport facilities there, Mr Chetan B. Sanghi, Secretary (Tourism), said.

At present, there is no air link to Pondicherry, which is about three hours by road from Chennai, which is the nearest airport. Mr Sanghi said that the Confederation of Indian Industry had indicated that air services to Pondicherry would benefit the neighbouring industrial district of Cuddalore, the Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Annamalai University and the tour operators. This potential should ensure the minimum traffic requirement of these operators, he said.

Sectors such as Chennai-Pondicherry-Chennai, Pondicherry-Bangalore-Pondicherry and Pondicherry-Tirupati-Pondicherry have been found to be viable. The Government, he said, was willing to assist operators with small aircraft like Dorniers, for instance, to start flights to these sectors with "incentives."

The airport in Pondicherry, maintained by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), has a 4,000-ft-long and 100-ft-wide runway. The Air Traffic Control is also maintained by AAI. When contacted by Business Line, officials of a private airline indicated that the proposal has to be studied in-depth, as other State Governments have also expressed similar interest in connecting smaller metros with the larger airports.

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