Chennai/Salem: SpiceJet flights SG 3597 and SG 1083 were cancelled along with their pairing flights on December 17 and 18, leaving the southern port city of Tuticorin bereft of the sole air link that connected it to Chennai and ruining several passengers’ travel plans. Tuticorin had become SpiceJet’s 31st destination in its nationwide network in 2011 when it was announced that the Pearl City would be connected to Chennai by a daily flight. Later, the airline increased the frequency to two services per day.
“We hope and pray that they will not discontinue their service. The Chennai flight is the only one flying out of Tuticorin. More importantly, their operations are profitable and consistently enjoy a load factor of nearly 90 per cent,” said D. Jayakumar, assistant general manager (communications), Tuticorin airport. Tuticorin airport came about in 1991 to facilitate Vayudoot’s operations, this being a state-owned carrier that ceased operations in 1997. It was subsequently refurbished by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to reactivate the long dormant airport, located 15 km away from the city centre.
Mr Jayakumar said that their future plans included moving into a new terminal besides extending the runway length to 3,000 m from 1,300 m. “Tuticorin is a emerging port city with a diversified economic base. There is a huge potential for export-oriented activities that airlines should not ignore,” he added. While Tuticorin is currently pinning its hopes on SpiceJet for continued air connectivity, other airports in the state have not been as lucky.
25/12/14 Venkatesan Parthasarathy/Zakeer Hussain/Deccan Chronicle
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“We hope and pray that they will not discontinue their service. The Chennai flight is the only one flying out of Tuticorin. More importantly, their operations are profitable and consistently enjoy a load factor of nearly 90 per cent,” said D. Jayakumar, assistant general manager (communications), Tuticorin airport. Tuticorin airport came about in 1991 to facilitate Vayudoot’s operations, this being a state-owned carrier that ceased operations in 1997. It was subsequently refurbished by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to reactivate the long dormant airport, located 15 km away from the city centre.
Mr Jayakumar said that their future plans included moving into a new terminal besides extending the runway length to 3,000 m from 1,300 m. “Tuticorin is a emerging port city with a diversified economic base. There is a huge potential for export-oriented activities that airlines should not ignore,” he added. While Tuticorin is currently pinning its hopes on SpiceJet for continued air connectivity, other airports in the state have not been as lucky.
25/12/14 Venkatesan Parthasarathy/Zakeer Hussain/Deccan Chronicle
