Puducherry: The Puducherry Government is pulling out all stops to get Alliance Air to resume the flights which the operator suspended since October 15 following a standoff over subsidy.
Alliance Air, the budget airlines of Air India, was operating flights to Bengaluru on six days a week since April 14 before it suspended services ostensibly over “payment issues.”
Chief Minister N. Rangasamy has already spoken to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma seeking the Centre’s immediate intervention in the issue, especially as Puducherry is on the cusp of peak tourism season. “Apart from continuing to look for other operators to operate on this route, we are also rethinking our current strategy in terms of flight frequency out of Puducherry,” Manoj Parida, Chief Secretary said. “Perhaps, we could go in for a four-day a week schedule to improve operational viability,” he said.
Mr. Parida has also raised the Alliance Air issue with M. Sathyavathi, Director General of Civil Aviation, who incidentally has previously served as Chief Secretary here.
According to sources in the government, Alliance Air had raised a demand for Rs. 2 crore as viability gap fund in spite of having operated for just six months.
27/10/15 M. Dinesh Varma/The Hindu
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Alliance Air, the budget airlines of Air India, was operating flights to Bengaluru on six days a week since April 14 before it suspended services ostensibly over “payment issues.”
Chief Minister N. Rangasamy has already spoken to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma seeking the Centre’s immediate intervention in the issue, especially as Puducherry is on the cusp of peak tourism season. “Apart from continuing to look for other operators to operate on this route, we are also rethinking our current strategy in terms of flight frequency out of Puducherry,” Manoj Parida, Chief Secretary said. “Perhaps, we could go in for a four-day a week schedule to improve operational viability,” he said.
Mr. Parida has also raised the Alliance Air issue with M. Sathyavathi, Director General of Civil Aviation, who incidentally has previously served as Chief Secretary here.
According to sources in the government, Alliance Air had raised a demand for Rs. 2 crore as viability gap fund in spite of having operated for just six months.
27/10/15 M. Dinesh Varma/The Hindu
