Stalin demands direct flights from Tamil Nadu to Japan, Singapore

The service is yet to resumed and the lack of direct flight connectivity more than doubles the travel time between these two destinations by about 7 hours

With over 600 Japanese companies making the state their home in India, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday urged the Union Government to resume direct flight services from Chennai to Tokyo to facilitate smooth travel for businessmen and tourists from both countries.

In a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Chief Minister M K Stalin, who just completed his nine-day tour to Japan and Singapore, said direct flight connectivity between Chennai and Tokyo will be a “commendable measure” as the state woos investors from Japan ahead of the Global Investors Meet scheduled to be held in January 2024.

Stalin also sought more flights between Madurai and Singapore, which has a sizable Tamil population. The Chief Minister spent nine days in Japan and Singapore meeting CEOs of top companies and inviting them to invest in Tamil Nadu.

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On Tuesday, Stalin oversaw the signing of an MoU between the state government and Omron Healthcare for setting up its first India facility near Chennai at a cost of Rs 128 crore. On Monday, the government signed MoUs worth Rs 800 crore.

Recalling that Chennai-Tokyo direct flight operated by All Nippon Airways from 2019 was discontinued during the Covid-19 pandemic, Stalin said at present there is no direct flight connectivity between the two cities as the service has not been resumed.

“This service has not been resumed subsequently. The lack of direct flight connectivity more than doubles the travel time between these two destinations by about 7 hours, which is significant. There have been persistent requests from the Japanese business community in Tamil Nadu to resume direct flight services between Chennai and Tokyo,” Stalin said.

Japanese conglomerates like Nissan, Toshiba, Yamaha, Komatsu, Mitsubishi and Hitachi have their manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu, and out of the 12 industrial townships established in India under the Japan-India Investment Promotion Partnership Program, three are in Tamil Nadu.

Stalin said more than 600 Japanese companies have established offices or factories in Tamil Nadu, adding that Japan also has a significant Tamil diaspora, in particular professionals in the Information Technology and finance-related fields.

“The State is to host the Global Investors’ Meet in January 2024 and as we seek to attract greater investments from Japan, resumption of direct flights would indeed be a commendable measure. Considering the above, I request you to kindly direct the Ministry of Civil Aviation to take necessary steps to resume direct flight services between Chennai and Tokyo,” he added.

On more flights from Madurai to Singapore, Stalin said while there are multiple daily flight connections between Singapore and Chennai and Tiruchirapalli and one daily flight between Singapore and Coimbatore, there is only a tri-weekly flight between Singapore and Madurai.

“I would be grateful if the request of permitting more flights to operate between Singapore and Madurai is favourably considered,” Stalin said.