Sit-in against transfer of Thiruvananthapuram airport control

Thiruvananthapuram: The Airport Action Council organised a sit-in, in front of the international airport here today, questioning the transfer of its administrative control to the Airports Authority of India executive director in Chennai.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Pannian Ravindran, MP, who inaugurated the sit-in, said a petition signed by all 29 Members of Parliament representing Kerala would be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The MPs would meet Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in this connection.
He alleged vested interests were engaged in backroom maneuvers to 'downgrade' the airport when it was poised for major growth for the first time since being declared an international airport on April 1, 1991.
However, the Kerala Association of Travel Agents, which has been in the forefront of the agitation, has expressed anguish at the attitude of the people's representatives towards the airport's development.
The Airport Advisory Committee, headed by none other than Pannian Ravindran, and under the control of the Federal Civil Aviation Ministry, has not met for three years. The inability to convene the meeting affected the development of the airport, association president K V Muralieeharan said in a statement recently.
10/11/07 John Mary/Peninsula On-line, Qatar

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Categories: Airports Nov 2007