JOIN USMysore Airport to go off air route from September 5 again
As the City of Palaces is preparing to host Mysore Dasara, considered as the prime tourist season, comes a piece of bad news on the connectivity front.
SpiceJet, the lone flight operator, has once again decided to discontinue its services from Mysore Airport at Mandakalli on the Mysore-Nanjangud Road, from September 5 to October 31.
The airlines resumed its operations just 11 days ago on August 21 to Mysore Airport, operating a direct flight from Bangalore-Mysore-Bangalore in the revised schedule of arrival at 1.30 pm and departure at 2.10 pm.
However, the facility is short-lived, with the operator calling off the services till October 31. This will be the longest period with no operations from the airport in the recent past.
The development does not augur well for the tourism sector, as the industry was waiting to cash in on dedicated customers during Dasara.
Confirming this to Deccan Herald, Airport Director C Manjunath said he had received an SMS about the cancellation of services from a local representative.
“I was appalled to learn about the sudden development when the response was overwhelming, especially after the resumption of services. On Sunday (August 31), there were 69 outbound passengers against the total capacity of 78 passengers. The previous day, too, the number of passengers was about 50-52, and in case of inbound passengers, the number was more than 50 per cent,” he said.
Manjunath said he would raise the issue during the meeting with Higher Education and Tourism Minister R V Deshpande, scheduled for September 3 at the deputy commissioner’s office in the city. “The frequent discontinuation of services will dent the growing base of passengers,” he said.
Previously, SpiceJet had discontinued services from July 28 till August 10 as a prelude to its plans to permanently call off the services from September 1. However, it resumed the operations on August 21, kindling hopes. This was following the inspection visit of Union Civil Aviation Minister Gajapathi Raju and his colleague G M Siddeshwara.
However, this time, there is no such intimation on cancellation of services permanently, said another official source, preferring anonymity.
An eight-member staff, belonging to the current operator, including an engineer, work at the Mysore Airport. So far, there have been no changes in their positions.