PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Lok Sabha member V Vaithilingam (Congress) urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation to extend the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to Puducherry so as to facilitate more flights from Puducherry Airport.
Further, Vaithilingam urged the Ministry to provide night-landing facilities at Puducherry so as to facilitate flight operations to a greater extent.
"If night-landing is available in Puducherry, the cargo transshipment by air would increase the utilisation of the Airport," he said.
Vaithilingam was raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Vaithilingam said that except SpiceJet, which is resuming flight operations to Hyderabad and Bengaluru from March 27, no other flight operators are coming forward. This is despite the Puducherry Government giving subsidies for power consumption at the airport. The government also provides full security to the airport and other facilities.
He also urged the Union government to establish a Maintenance, Repairs and Overall (MRO) system of aircrafts at the UT Airport or at the land acquired for the Special Economic Zone at Sederapet which can be utilised in Puducherry.
Stating that a private party is interested in establishing a greenfield airport at Karaikal, he urged the government to provide clearance for the same. Vaithilingam also urged the ministry to fill up 708 posts in the Traffic Control Office, which would be useful for safety and travel. There is an air traffic problem due to shortage of personnel. Out of 2,871 posts, nearly 708 posts are vacant, which then makes it unsafe for the passengers and crew, he said.
Further, he urged the Civil aviation ministry to provide a white paper or any outline to the Parliament about the Air India disinvestment.