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Mysore Airport

Contributed by Captain Anup Murthy

Thursday, 16 February 2006

Page 2 of 2

MOU Government and AAI

Early this year, the Government of the State of Karnataka and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a regional Airport at the present site. The Airport is being planned to allow the operation of turbo prop Aircraft such as Dash 8 series or the ATR 42/72 category. We are not going to see passenger jet Aircraft operations any time soon, due to the runway length restrictions.

The Government says that a small terminal is to be built that can be expanded at a later date, with enough capacity to handle the number of passengers that a couple of turbo props bring in and out. A couple of hangars are planned to be built to rent out to operators. A tarmac area, of course a asphalted runway and taxiways are planned.

The latest news is that the Deputy Commissioner of Mysore, who is the nodal officer of the Government in charge of Mysore District, has written to the AAI mentioning that the land that had been acquired in addition to the existing land and is ready to be transferred as required by the MOU.

The ball, it seems, is in the AAI court now. I am sure that no one at AAI has looked into it yet because of their own internal troubles (read strikes) across India, protesting against the privatization and modernization of Delhi and Mumbai Airports. That nationwide strike has been since called off since the Government of India assured the strikers that no job losses would occur as a result of the privatization of these Airports.

According to a statement in the press last week from the Deputy Commissioner of Mysore, the works for upgrading the Mysore Airport is to begin next month, that is, March 2006 and complete within 18 months. Mysore residents have heard this many times in the past, from successive Governments and some have been skeptical about the delays in the project.

Some Questions

How should the Airport and terminal be designed? What will happen when the Airport is indeed completed? Who will operate here? What facilities will be on offer to the traveler? What is the potential for connecting Mysore to various parts of India? I am sure there are several interesting questions that may come up from various people.

Airports in India don’t look professionally planned or organized, are shoddy, unclean and most of them falling well short of International standards. The privatization of the Airports at Delhi and Mumbai (earlier known as Bombay) is a welcome move by the Government as the private parties have a mandate to modernize the Airport to match International standards.

Is it going to be another “Box”?

Let’s assume that the Airport is not going to be built like a concrete box, such as the ones at Hubli and other small Airports in India. Lets assume that the Airport will be designed to reflect the heritage image of Mysore. Airport terminals may be built according to the region.

Airports built around small island communities have been designed to look and feel like a beach resort and so on. There are several “theme based” examples abroad but let’s take an Indian example. Look at the New Cochin International Airport, located in another Southern State of India called Kerala, know for its Ayurvedic health centers and beaches.

The Cochin terminal has a Kerala “look” and “feel” construction, reflecting the local culture, building styles and way of life. Incidentally it is the first Greenfield International Airport in the private sector in India. The Airport is also, generally considered as one of the better planned ones. Perhaps this is because of the private ownership.

The question now is, whether Mysore Airport will be planned in a similar way as to reflect the culture and building styles of the area without compromising on the services and standards required at an Airport? Let’s see, this author will try and put his two bit in the form of a letter to the right Authorities and any follow up “lobbying” required, to be sure that it is done right the first time round. Mysore has a great tourist economy and a few industries as well. There are major plans by IT companies to set up shop in the Industrial parks south of Mysore and a few kilometers of the Airport. Passenger and cargo traffic will pick up. Mysore has a viable population that requires air connections. Many Indians living and working abroad are Mysoreans and they travel back at almost every opportunity they get to travel anywhere!

At this point in time, a person coming into Bangalore International Airport (most flights coming in late night/early morning) destined for Mysore, must wait till daybreak to go through traffic to the Train Station or the bus stand or take a taxi ride. The bus or train ride will take around three hours. Same with the taxi except that the taxi may cost quite a bit and it certainly would be cheaper and faster to fly the 20 minutes that it will take in a turboprop between Bangalore and Mysore. The new Chief Minister of the State, sworn into office last week, has made a press statement that he would like to see the development of Airports at all the districts of the State. Let’s hope that this young, mid forties politician, is able to walk the talk. This State and indeed India as a country will appreciate his efforts.

I would like to encourage readers, whether Indians, Mysoreans or otherwise, to write a comment about how you would like to see this Airport develop from scratch. I will forward viable suggestions and ideas to the Authorities and report back in future articles.

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Comments

Mysore Airport
Written by Guest on 2007-02-13 02:38:36

Your article on this topic is interesting, you drafted this might a long back, the time i am reading i feel that the design and the infrasture of the Mysore airport i guess no body will takecare, as the Ministers, Officials, and AAI are bringing their formalities into the long waiting procedures, as this is not going to be any issue if some one stand to complete and to see successfull going and to show the mysore city on top of any cities, its possible!, as the IT co. jumping to this city to develop theier profits just finding the lands and man hours are one of the low cost in countries with professional and educated people around city leaving.

I prefer mysore airport to be the best as the abroads countries are having such as singapore airport, europoean airports and gulf airports.

I am one of the resident of mysore, and everytime i see trouble going and coming to mysore from abroads and to abroads. oftenly.

Thank you for taking time to accept my comment.

Thanks, regards

Hey Anup
Written by Guest on 2006-07-02 21:30:50

I was tracking your replay in Star of Mysore on Airport issue and good job keep it up.
Well I was flying with you in that Airport along with CGI Chandran... and It was fun... I did not become a Pilot but I fly coast to coast every week in US.
Regards
Ranga

Update
Written by Guest on 2006-03-24 01:49:18

To update the situation on Mysore Airport, there seems to be no change as of the time of this writing, March 23rd 2006 and it still remains a drit strip. There is hope that a minor court case will get resolved and the entire additional land will be acquired for starting work sometime in May 2006. Watch this space!

Next step for improvement
Written by Guest on 2006-02-26 17:09:14

Well, this happent in one of the southern state of INDIA way back in 80s , there was a politician who was blessed with long vision and he made a road which was considered very expensive and non sense by many people at that time ,
and now people find that , the same road cant support the movement of traffic now, and they feel that , it should have been made even wider .

its the same case with mysore airport , after few yrs, people will surely thik , it should have been made long time back itself .

the main problem is the lack of intrest by concerned people as its the same for them with or without it . even though they know that , it will help the place and the people in many ways .
as long as such people remain in power , things would b difficult .

like one candle can lightup a whole room , one man with vision can do wonders, but unfortunately there r plenty of people to spoil that these days .

Before i read the article , i dint know mysore had its own poential, and it would b boosted considerably if the airport comes ,

Lets hope that , govt and people concerned will take the pain make it happen from paper to place .

Thomas kurien
Written by Guest on 2006-02-22 07:44:56

Really enjoyed this article. We need more Airports like Cochin.

Madhukar
Written by Guest on 2006-02-17 01:03:27

Capt. Murthy,
I remember the days when we used to see a small plane in the skies of Mysore city during our childhood. On our trips to Nanjangud and back, if we saw an aircraft standing near the terminal building, we always stopped for a few minutes to take in the sight of the plane. It used to be a real treat. Mysore certainily eludes being on the air map. If we heard a plane flying overhead, even elders would stop working and look up, trying to spot the plane. It holds that kind of charm.
I also had the opportunity of taking a joy ride in the National Cadet Corps glider on the Mysore air strip while working for a wireless equipments dealer testing the feasiblity of providing communication between the pilot and the winch operator. It was my "first flight".
Thanks for the update on the developments regarding Mysore Airport. As I now away from Mysore, please keep us informed about further developments that will put Mysore on the Air Map of the world.

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