The Hindu Business Line : International status for Madurai airport sought

Conversion of Madurai airport into an international airport needs serious consideration from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India.

If it is accorded international status there would be potential for establishing connectivity to Gulf, Singapore and Sri Lanka on a twice- or thrice-a-week basis, according to a report done by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the CII.

The airport handled 1.58 lakh passengers in 2004-05 compared with 1.22 lakh in the previous year. The cargo handled was 425 tonnes (428 tonnes). There is scope for increasing passenger traffic to 3.01 lakh ( domestic and international) in 2006 and 6.15 lakh in 2011, the report said.

Logical approach

PwC used a logical approach for estimating the traffic potential at Madurai airport. The report was built around aviation trends, income and GDP growth, trends in rail traffic and possible conversion of rail passengers to air travel, tourism growth and impact of low-cost aviation. It obtained data from secondary sources and discussions with stakeholders.

According to the report, international cargo potential at Madurai airport was 1,339 tonnes in 2006, which would increase to 2,098 tonnes in the next five years. The domestic cargo potential was 489 tonnes in 2006 and would go up to 862 tonnes by 2011. A substantial volume, mostly perishables, from Madurai's hinterland is routed through Tiruchi and Thiruvananthapuram.