Airport expansion imperative for tourism development, Minister told

The imperatives of airport expansion for the growth of Mysuru tourism was impressed upon the Minister for Tourism C.P. Yogeshwar here on Saturday.

The Minister was at the Mysuru airport at Mandakalli and interacted with officials to take forward the concept of helitourism announced by him. The discussion revolved around the use of the facility, the procedure to secure permission from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and completion of other formalities ahead of the launch of the project.

The Minister was apprised of the benefits of helitourism and the officials described it as a project that could give a boost to tourism development in the State. But in the process the authorities also underlined the imperatives of airport expansion at Mysuru and said that this will automatically give a fillip to the sector and increase the tourist footfall.

The attention of Mr. Yogeshwar was drawn to the land acquisition issue and he was told that the expansion requires 240 acres and the government should expedite the funding for the project which requires 115 acres in the first phase of the expansion.

Sources said the officials pointed out that Mysuru MP Pratap Simha had sought additional funds from the State government and it would be useful if the Minister could help expedite the process.

Mysuru used to draw over 3.5 million tourists every year (in the pre-pandemic days) and this number could be increased if there was direct flight connectivity to other important centres. However, given the short runway of the Mysuru airport, long haul flights could not be operated and hence the runway length had to be increased from 1,740 metres to 2,750 metres.

Increasing the runway length to 2,750 metres and breadth to 45 metres will be suitable for larger aircraftsthat can fly long distances to connect Mysuru with Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur or other places of tourist interest.

According to the airport master plan, the runway expansion requires around 182 acres while 58 acres is required for expanding the terminal building.

The Minister was told that the expansion of the runway hinges on land acquisition. The plan entails a runway below which an underpass will be constructed as the Mysuru-Nanjangud highway bisects the runway alignment and this cannot be diverted. Even the DGCA has given its approval for construction of an underpass below the runway and hence the onus was on the State government to expedite the land acquisition process by releasing the funds.