Mangaluru: Even as the proposed closure of the Shiradi Ghat stretch of national highway for six months has upset stakeholders, the aviation sector may be benefited by this development.
According to aviation industry stakeholders, the closure of the ghat section for six months will result in travellers avoiding roads and taking flights to Bengaluru. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has proposed closing the Shiradi Ghat stretch of national highway completely for six months, in order to make a four-lane road from Donigal, on the outskirts of Sakleshpur, to Maranahalli, a distance of 220 km to 230km.
“With this proposed closure, we are expecting that the demand for domestic flights from Mangaluru to Bengaluru will increase, since not many people would want to take a long route to reach the state capital,” said an executive of a low-cost airline.
Currently, 10 flights are being operated per day on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru sector. For the time-being while an airline has cancelled a flight to Bengaluru due to poor passenger load, another carrier operates only night flights. “We have observed that the passenger load to Bengaluru is slowly picking up. There is no advance booking, but tickets are booked two days prior to the journey. Most of the travellers fly on personal visits, such as weddings and other similar engagements. There are few corporate bookings. The airlines are also expecting a surge in bookings, starting with the onset of summer,” said an executive.
According to a KSRTC Volvo bus driver, if the work commences after the closure of the Shiradi Ghat stretch, Airavat (Volvo) and other buses will ply via Mangaluru-Madikeri-Holenarasipura-Bengaluru or Mangaluru-Madikeri-Mysuru-Bengaluru routes. Cars and other smaller vehicles can traverse through Charmadi Ghat.
30/01/22 Kevin Mendonsa/Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
0 comments:
Post a Comment