Lack of public transport to Mysuru Airport irks flyers

Mysuru: The lack of buses and trains – public transport vehicles – to the Mysuru Airport in Mandakalli on the outskirts of the Heritage City is burning a huge hole in the pockets of passengers, who are shelling out huge sums on private taxis and autorickshaws. Frequent flyers based out of Mysuru claimed that private taxi service providers charged up to Rs 1,500 either to go to or from the airport. Notwithstanding the nigh prohibitive costs involved in commuting between the airport and the city, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) said that the results of the survey it had conducted had shown that resumption of bus services to the airport would be an unviable proposition.
Currently, flights to and from Hyderabad, Chennai, Goa, Chennai and Hubballi are being operated out of the Mysuru Airport.
BEML Layout resident Dheeraj M, a product manager at a private firm, complained that he had to pay Rs 850 to go home from the airport – a mere nine-minute drive. “Drivers demand a minimum fare of Rs 850. There is no other convenient option to travel to and from the airport. The airport is a considerable distance away from the city, and taxis are the only viable option. Unfortunately, even drivers registered with aggregator services also refuse to accept rides to and from the airport,” Dheeraj said.
Admitting that airports could not be situated within city limits, Dheeraj however urged the authorities concerned to ensure there were affordable options for the public to travel to and from the airport. He batted for shuttle services between the city and the airport in Mandakali. “The shuttle can operate from strategically important locations in the city,” he said.
Nagaratna S Rao, Vijayanagar IV Stage resident, said that taxi service providers exploited the lack of other options for air travellers by setting the price according to their fancy. “The district administration must fix the price for these services,” Nagaratna said.
KSRTC Mysuru division controller, R Ashok Kumar said that they had suspended the service to and from the airport owing to poor patronage. “A recent survey we conducted showed that occupancy rate on our buses would be lower than 10%, which is why we decided against resuming the service,” Ashok Kumar said.