MIA revival: Puttur teen spearheads 12-hour Twitter campaign

Mangaluru: At 17, when teens his age are busy with academics, this lad from Puttur is busy drumming up support for Mangaluru International Airport (MIA).
A student of Ambika PU College, Prasad (name changed on request) will launch #FlyFromIXE, a Twitter campaign on Tuesday with other like-minded people interested in ensuring that the all-weather connectivity to this coastal city by road, rail and air increases optimally.
The 12-hour campaign from 6am will strive to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the declining air traffic at MIA. MIA, which was the second busiest airport in Karnataka after Kempegowda International Airport (KIA, Bengaluru), has slipped one place, and lost the spot to Belagavi airport. Aiding Prasad in this regard will be @mlrairportusers, a Twitter page dedicated to MIA regulars.
Supporting Prasad’s campaign idea is the data that MIA authorities shared with TOI. Presently, MIA is handling 72 domestic and 16 international movements per week. It was 196 domestic and 72 international movements same time last year. MIA airport director V V Rao said flights will pick up once educational institutions reopen in the education hub.
Incidentally, Prasad also aired his concern on the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) that department of administrative reforms and public grievances monitors. Airports uthority of India that operates MIA said: “Your complaint, suggestion on CPGRAMS (PMOPG/E/2020/0788812) was examined. For increasing in flights and connectivity to various destinations, we informed airlines.”
Prasad said with talks of an airport coming up at Karwar and Kannur International Airport (started in December 2018) attracting passengers in terms of services and amenities, only concerted efforts by all stakeholders can help revive the dwindling fortunes of MIA. “We received the least number of Vande Bharat Mission flights compared to Kannur,” he said, adding this is a clear warning sign on the need for the revival of MIA.