International tag to Madurai Airport: Scindia, MP slug it out on Twitter

The war of words began after Madurai MP Venkatesan alleged that Scindia opined that the demand for the airport is not justified

The demand to declare Madurai Airport as an international terminal has triggered a war of words between Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Su Venkatesan, the CPI (M) Lok Sabha MP from the temple city.

Even though Madurai Airport caters to international travellers from over half-a-dozen districts in the southern region, people in southern Tamil Nadu have been demanding to make it function as an around-the-clock airport handling both domestic and international operations. Lawmakers from the region met Scindia with the demand.

The war of words began on Wednesday after Venkatesan, an acclaimed writer and winner of the Sahitya Akademi award, took to Twitter to allege that Scindia opined that the demand for the fourth (international) airport in Madurai for Tamil Nadu is not justified since (many) north Indian states have only one international airport.

“The GST paid by TN last year is higher than those collectively paid by 21 states and UTs. We are right and justified in demanding not just 4 but even 14 for our state,” Venkatesan wrote, triggering an instant outrage with several accusing the Centre of “giving too much” to northern states while ignoring their counterparts in the south.

Hours later, Scindia expressed shock at Venkatesan’s statement and termed it as a “misrepresentation of facts”. Explaining the issue in detail, Scindia said some states in both north and south India (like UP and Kerala) have more than one international airport.

“Secondly, the decision to grant international status to an existing airport is dependent on several factors, including passenger demand and proximity to other international airports in the State. The Govt. is open to proposals for new airports in any part of the country. In fact, we aim at multiplying the current number of airports in India,” the minister said.

In fact, international flights are currently operational at Madurai airport. So, the MP’s insistence over according international status to the airport is incomprehensible, Scindia added.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Venkatesan sought to know from Scindia why he was refusing to attach the international tag to Madurai Airport.

“The problem lies therein. When we met him in person, the Minister asserted that there was no way of making Madurai an international airport because Tamil Nadu already has three international airports and several states in north India had only one. He said that at least five Chief Ministers were demanding second international airports and their demands were still not met,” Venkatesan said.

He also said one is at a loss in trying to understand his argument, why should name matter as the city of Madurai has international air connectivity.

Venkatesan also said the number of passengers who flew aboard from Madurai last year was larger than the number of passengers who flew out from the two international airports in Uttar Pradesh — Varanasi and Kushinagar.

“Further, the number of passengers who flew out from Madurai to several international destinations are higher than those who flew out from 11 of the 21 international airports across the country. Madurai continues to rank first in the number of international passengers among the 10 customs airports announced by the Union Aviation Ministry,” Venkatesan added.

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