The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Coimbatore, has requested the Centre to speed up the land acquisition process so as to take forward Coimbatore airport’s expansion project.
It has also made a pitch for improving flight connectivity from Coimbatore to global destinations by including the city in the list of cities to which airlines from other Asian countries can operate services without Special Bilateral Approval.
In a letter to Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister for Civil Aviation, the President of ICCI R R Balasundharam, said the city was an industrial centre and had earned forex valued at Rs 25,000 crore. He urged the minister to speed up land acquisition related to the expansion of Coimbatore airport.
He also highlighted the problem the airport faced in increasing flights to overseas destinations. Currently, the airport has international flights only to Sharjah and Singapore. Airlines such as Air Asia have evinced interest in operating international flights to and from Coimbatore. But the non-inclusion of Coimbatore to the list of cities to which airlines from other Asian countries could operate flights without Special Bilateral Approval was hampering such a move.
Balasundharam said the city airport needed more international flights to derive full benefit from the investment made in the airport infrastructure. He urged the minister to include Coimbatore in the list of cities for bilateral traffic rights and approve international airlines keen to operate to Coimbatore.