Pune: While the airport in Solapur city, 240 km from here, finds a mention in the Airports Authority of India`s (AAI) plan to revive 13 of its 33 small non-operational airports, there appears to be no takers among the airlines to operate regular commercial flights from Solapur.
Civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi informed the Lok Sabha recently that the AAI had appointed consultant Rites Limited to conduct a feasibility study for 33 idle airports to see whether they can be developed and operationalised. In its report, the consultant recommended 13 such airports, including Solapur and Akola in Maharashtra, for revival and efforts are on to operationalise these airports, the minister said.
The situation on ground is different though, as far as Solapur is concerned. The Maharashtra Airports Development Company (MADC) operates the airport, while the AAI is in charge of the air traffic control (ATC). The airport has a 2,100-metre long runway, suitable for operating ATR aircraft with a capacity to carry 72 passengers. As of now, only two private airlines have ATRs in their operational fleets.
For the last seven months, no commercial scheduled flight has been in operation from Solapur. This was after private airlines Kingfisher operated a Mumbai-Solapur-Mumbai ATR service for a year-and-a-half before discontinuing it in August 2010. The service was launched amid fanfare in February 2009 in the presence of Union ministers Sharad Pawar and Sushilkumar Shinde, who successfully contested the ensuing general elections from the Lok Sabha seats in Solapur district.
16/03/11 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
0 comments:
Post a Comment