Members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore (ICCIC) met Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju in Delhi recently to draw his attention to issues related to Coimbatore airport development projects.
ICCIC President D Nandakumar in his submission recalled the need for including Coimbatore in Bilateral Traffic Rights. “There are 18 cities (including Tiruchy in Tamil Nadu) included in the list. As Coimbatore does not figure in the list, foreign airliners such as Air Asia, Tiger Airlines and Fly Dubai, which are ready to operate their flights to and from Coimbatore are unable to do so,” he said and stressed the need for including the textile hub in the list.
He also appealed to the Minister to include Coimbatore in the Asian Air Transport Agreement for operation of flights by foreign airliners.
Nandakumar pointed out that Air India operated only one flight from Mumbai to Kozhikode via Coimbatore. He appealed for operation of international flights by Air India, particularly to Gulf countries as also to Delhi via Chennai/ Bangalore/ Hyderabad.
The other issues included the need for a permanent licence for Coimbatore airport and speedy completion of airport expansion projects.