Chennai: The new civil aviation policy will boost flying between smaller cities in the southern region. Besides sending fares down, it is likely to open the skies to new regional carriers connecting Chennai with small airports in the south.
The Rs2,500 cap will benefit flyers in the south where 11 airports are located within one hour to one-and-a-half hours flying distance from one another. The proposal to revive airstrips or airports as no-frills airports at Rs50crore to Rs100crore in association with the state governments will see development of Salem, Puducherry, Vellore, Tuticorin with regional airlines.
To be implemented in the second quarter of this financial year, the policy will encourage regional airlines to tap into the huge market of travellers who currently use AC II tier and AC III tier on trains and domestic carriers to operate new international flights from Chennai on high-demand routes to south East Asian countries.
A senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the policy focuses more on passenger amenities than infrastructure. "It does not provide solution to decongest airports like Chennai though it lays down a plan to develop smaller airports. The pressure on capacity of bigger airports will go up because airlines would want to connect metros with small towns like Tirupati, Vellore, Puducherry and Salem," he added.
16/06/16 Times of India
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The Rs2,500 cap will benefit flyers in the south where 11 airports are located within one hour to one-and-a-half hours flying distance from one another. The proposal to revive airstrips or airports as no-frills airports at Rs50crore to Rs100crore in association with the state governments will see development of Salem, Puducherry, Vellore, Tuticorin with regional airlines.
To be implemented in the second quarter of this financial year, the policy will encourage regional airlines to tap into the huge market of travellers who currently use AC II tier and AC III tier on trains and domestic carriers to operate new international flights from Chennai on high-demand routes to south East Asian countries.
A senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the policy focuses more on passenger amenities than infrastructure. "It does not provide solution to decongest airports like Chennai though it lays down a plan to develop smaller airports. The pressure on capacity of bigger airports will go up because airlines would want to connect metros with small towns like Tirupati, Vellore, Puducherry and Salem," he added.
16/06/16 Times of India
