Madurai: Frustrated over the repeated appeals to include Madurai airport into the 'bilateral airport treaty', the trade and industrial bodies, political parties and public forums staged a demonstration here to air their grievance. They condemned the indifference of the aviation ministry and said that though many of the foreign airlines are willing to operate flights to Madurai, they are unable to do so since the airport is not included in the treaty.
The demonstration was called after the Union civil aviation minister refused to include the Madurai airport in the treaty during a meeting held in Singapore on April 2. In spite of the Singapore government expressing its interest with Tiger Airways coming forward, the airport was not included. Besides, the protesters also condemned the Union finance ministry for not announcing the airport as a cargo airport, thus crippling enormous export opportunities from the region.
27/04/13 Times of India
