You may soon be able to catch a flight from the Puducherry Airport as SpiceJet Airlines gears up to commence scheduled commercial flight operations from this January 15.
The airline‘s Flight Safety Chief Gurmukh Singh has requested the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to provide all Air Traffic Control and terminal facilities at the UT Airport for the operation of Dash 8 Q400 aircraft from January 15. This was initimated by Tourism Minister P Rajavelu, along with AAI official Gunasekharan to Chief minister N Rangasamy on Thursday.
SpiceJet is yet to chart out its flight routes and schedule. However, it is expected that flights would be operated to Bangalore as per the discussion Rajavelu had with the operators in Chennai. They are awaiting the green light for airport readiness before announcing the schedule. The airline had already conducted a survey and expressed willingness to operate flights to Bangalore.
At present, a mobile fuelling station in the form of a tanker will come to Puducherry for refueling. Airport security would be taken care of by the UT government as per the MOU signed in 2007. The AAI would have to get all clearances in place before the commencement of flight operations. The airport has minimal night landing facilities, which would be enhanced after flights commence operations.