MUMBAI: The state has requested the Centre to allow flights from South East Asian countries to operate to and fro Nagpur, as according to state authorities, around 80,000 people from the Orange city travel to these countries every year via Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.
Multi-modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN), a joint venture of the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC) and Airports Authority of India (AAI), in a letter to the civil aviation secretary, has requested the Central authorities to allow airlines from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to operate via Nagpur.
"Data collected by us shows that there is sufficient traffic potential between Nagpur and ASEAN countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. As per their estimates, about 80,000 passengers are already travelling yearly from Nagpur to these countries using gateways like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai. This traffic can easily ensure a daily service and once that happens, more traffic will be generated leading to an automatic increase in flights," the letter by MADC chairman and managing director Tanaji Satre stated.
"Representatives of Tiger Airways and Singapore Airlines visited Nagpur and interacted with local travel associations. They have informed us that they are interested in starting scheduled passenger flights to Nagpur but the current bilateral arrangements do not allow such an operations as the designated airlines of Singapore do not have traffic rights for Nagpur. We are of the opinion that apart from Singapore, there is scope for introducing direct flights between Nagpur and Thailand also. However, non-availability of Nagpur as a point of operation for the designated airlines of these countries under the respective bilateral agreements will again act as a deterrent," the letter pointed out.
"With as many as nine airlines of ASEAN countries already having established operations to India at such a large scale (about 76,000 seats per week to 12 destinations), the chances of commencement of flights to Nagpur by one or more of such airlines appear to be bright provided the bilateral framework supports such an operation.
ASEAN country airlines can presently operate flights to Patna, Lucknow, Guwahati, Gaya, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Khajuraho, Aurangabad, Goa, Jaipur, Port Blair, Calicut, Amritsar, Vishakhapatnam, Ahmedabad, Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram, and Cochin, but Nagpur has been conspicuous by its absence in the list.
"MIL feels that Nagpur has stronger claims to be in the list as Vidarbha has tourism potential with presence of tiger reserves at Kanha and Tadoba besides other tourist places like Chikhaldara, Pench, Ramtek etc. Besides, the SEZ being developed by MADC in Nagpur has employment potential with Air India along with Boeing already in the process of setting up maintenance, repairs and overhaul facility," the letter stated.