SpiceJet flight service to Bengaluru from February 15
All set for take-off: SpiceJet is planning to operate a 78-seater Bombardier on Puducherry-Bengaluru sector.
The Puducherry airport is all set to become busier in the months ahead with the budget airliner, SpiceJet, announcing a flight service to Bengaluru from here from February 15 and other private airliners in the fray to launch commercial passenger flights to various southern cities.
The airline, which started service to Hyderabad in August last year under the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme Udan (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik), will open the sector to Bengaluru four years after suspending its operations between the two cities. SpiceJet, as the sole operator, launched Puducherry-Bengaluru commercial flights in 2013, and suspended it in 2014.
According to sources, a 78-seater Bombardier, SG 3419, will take off from Bengaluru at 9.40 a.m. and land here at 10.30 a.m., starting commencement of daily flight service to another sector. The return flight, SG 3420, will take off from here at 10.50 a.m. and land in Bengaluru at 12.10 p.m.
Sources in the airline told The Hindu that the schedule had been planned in such a way as to give passengers onward connecting flights from Bengaluru to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. “This time, we have done the scheduling after a lot of ground work,” said a SpiceJet staff at the Puducherry airport.
More facilities needed
With Air Odhisa getting the approval from the Director-General of Civil Aviation for operating in the Chennai-Puducherry-Salem-Bengaluru sector, the airport is set to witness more services to more destinations. In recent months, there had been enquiries for operating cargo service from Puducherry to other parts, said an AAI official in Puducherry.
With the airport set to witness more service, the AAI staff felt the need to provide additional facilities, including ATM and a medical store. A medical store in an airport was a mandatory requirement, said an employee.
According to a tourism department official, the government was in talks with Tamil Nadu government to provide land for runway expansion. “We have already had several rounds of talks with Tamil Nadu,” said a senior official.
The AAI, Puducherry, had submitted a proposal to acquire around 200 acres of land in Tamil Nadu for expanding the runway by another 500 to 600 metres.
The report was submitted in October last year to the tourism department, detailing the land required for expanding the runway from 1,502m to 2,000m to operate wide-bodied aircraft.