Surat airport authorities eye Haj pilgrims

Surat: The landing of first international chartered flight at Surat airport last week has boosted the spirits of local authorities here.
The airport authorities are trying to convince flight operators and members of Haj Committee about the potential of air connectivity between Surat and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Official sources said over 5,000 people go on Haj from south Gujarat every year. Since there is no international flight connectivity from Surat, the pilgrims either travel to Ahmedabad or Mumbai to board the flights for Jeddah.
"The landing of an international chartered flight has boosted our spirits. Our first priority is to get the Jeddah flights to Surat so that Haj pilgrims could save their time of travelling to Mumbai and Ahmedabad," said Surat airport controller Ashok Verma.
He said there was no problem of setting up immigration and customs facilities for international landings and takeoffs for Haj pilgrims. If an operator comes up with a viable plan to operate flights from Surat to Jeddah, the airport authority will ensure that the immigration and custom facilities are set up on time.
28/10/09 Melvyn Thomas/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Oct 2009