The Hindu Business Line : `Air-link to Karaikal will be viable'

A pre-feasibility technical-cum-economic study for promoting a greenfield airport at Karaikal, the outlying coastal town under the Union Territory of Pondicherry, has projected that a commercial air connectivity to the town would prove viable.

An air-link to Karaikal from Chennai and Bangalore will be easily picked as choice mode of travel by a large number of temple tourists who currently take the long, circuitous road travel to visit some of the country's well-known shrines and places of worship located in its vicinity.

Places of Interest

The study undertaken by the Coimbatore-based Super Airport Infrastructure (India) Pvt Ltd, (SAIIPL), a business unit promoted by a local textile enterprises group, has identified at least three popular inter-religious destinations and a colonial landmark, all contiguous to Karaikal attracting regular flow of tourists all through the year.

The important temple/pilgrim centres are the famed Saneeswarar temple at Tirunallaru, just three km away from Karaikal, and Tirukadaiyur, about 15 km further away on Karaikal-Pondy road.

The famous Nagore Durgah and the Basilica of Velankanni are the other two key pilgrim centres nearby, which also attract tourists from all parts of India and abroad, notably from Sri Lanka. Another place of historic value frequented by tourists is the Dutch fort at Tranquebar beachfront. These are apart from a number of important Hindu temples and temple architectures located in Chidambaram, Poompuhar, Kumbakonam and Gangaikondacholapuram.

Traffic profiles

The SAIIPL study done at the instance of the Pondicherry Government's Department of Toursim has gone into the tourists' traffic profiles for each of these destinations in Karaikal region and their ratio to convert into air travellers is also spelt out.

It has also mapped the zones of passenger origination, including the profile of a large chunk of NRIs who have migrated to West Asia, who could be potential direct air passengers.

The technical team employed for the study has also gone into the aspects such as site selection for the airport and technical specifications, including soil testing, land alignment etc., according to Mr J.V. Chowdhury, Managing Director of SAIIPL.

New Projects

Mr Chowdhury told Business Line that if a greenfield airport at Karaikal is set up now, it may have 550 inbound/outbound passengers daily, and given the small aircraft and cheap air fare concept, it would be possible to run 12 flights per day to and fro. The passenger potential may go up to 4,000 per day over the next 30 years.

The cost of investment for the new airport is put at Rs 56 crore and SAIIPL has analysed four possible sites — Puthakudi, Karukalacherri, Pollagam and Pettai — in Karaikal. The company, looking at the possibility of taking over the greenfield airport project development, is also in touch with the Sri Lankan Board for Investments to explore new airport projects, Mr Chowdhury added.

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