Despite officials from the government stating that
Spice Jet would release their flight schedule from
Bangalore to Puducherry in the next week (1st week of December 2012), the carrier is a little more hesitant to commit on these dates.
On Tuesday, Welfare Minister P. Rajavelu, along with several officials from the Tourism Department, met with the Regional Executive Director of the Airport Authority of India, Chennai, D. Devaraj and representatives from Air India, Spice Jet, Jet Airways, Jet Connect, Air Asia and Indigo Airlines. Following the meeting, an official from the Tourism Department told TheHindu that Spice Jet would be releasing their flight schedule between Puducherry and Bangalore in the coming week.
According to the official, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation approval had been obtained for the airlines around a year ago, and all that was left was for the work on the airport to be completed and the carrier to release their schedule before they would start operating flights.
A spokesperson for Spice Jet, however, seemed much less optimistic of the time frame. Speaking to TheHindu , the spokesperson said that they had not yet made a decision on Puducherry and they would most definitely not be releasing the schedule that early. They could not comment on whether a schedule would be released at a later date.
In the meanwhile, the work on the terminal building has almost been completed.
According to a Tourism Department official, all the building work and runway work had been completed. What was left was for the infrastructure work such as fitting of air-conditioners, wiring, CCTVs and scanning machines to be completed. It was possible to complete the work in a month’s time.
As a consequence of the meeting, gardening work and other works have started at the airport complex.
Speaking of the other airline companies who had attended the meeting, the official said that although there was an interest to come to Puducherry, there were several “internal problems” in the companies that were currently holding them back from committing. Since the runway could only allow ATR flights to operate, it was a bit of a problem for some companies who currently operated only bigger flights in the region.
Source: The Hindu
