The cap of ₹2,500 per hour on airfare for flights promoting regional connectivity, announced recently in the Civil Aviation policy, may not entice travellers in Tamil Nadu to switch over from travelling either by rail or road to air.

This is because of the good road and rail networks in the State. Apart from the nearly 23,000 buses belonging to State transport undertakings, there is a large number of private bus operators connecting different parts of the State.

“It is cheaper to travel by road in Tamil Nadu even as both government and private buses ply to every nook and corner of the State. There is an effective train service across the State. These advantages make it difficult for somebody to change over to air unless there is a significant reduction in air fare,” says B Govindarajan, Chief Operating Officer, Tirwin Management Services (P) Ltd, a Chennai-based aviation consultancy company.

Air connectivity At present, intra-State air traffic is heavily dependant on Chennai, which keeps feeding international airports Madurai, Coimbaore and Tiruchi. However, no airline has service between other major cities such as Madurai to Salem or Coimbatore to Tiruchi because of the short distance, he said.

The State has small airports in Salem, Tuticorin and Vellore and a private use category aerodrome at Hosur.

On a daily basis, there are 15 government buses from Chennai to Tiruchi and Coimbatore, and an equal number of private buses that ply mostly during night.

Travelling short distances by air can be time consuming, says B Desikan, an advocate. Travel by road from Chennai to Tiruchi takes around five hours. “However, if I want to take the flight, I will spend one hour to reach the airport, another two hours at the airport and 45 minutes flying time,” he said.

Optimistic view Indiver Rastogi, President & Country Head, Corporate Travel, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, said the ₹2,500 pricing cap for one-hour flights will create critical mass for regional markets and tourism hubs. It is certainly a step closer to the target of 30 crore and 50 crore domestic air passengers by 2022 and 2027 respectively.

The fare cap will serve to catalyse latent demand and create opportunity for building new airports in high demand tourist centres. The affordability that the fare capping brings to play creates multiple opportunities for business, leisure and b-leisure, including a potential Tamil Nadu tourist-circuit air-pass concept, he said.

Internal data at Thomas Cook India indicates that Tamil Nadu has been seeing increasing demand with high potential for regional routes to/from Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchi and also surrounding regions via road/rail transport.

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