Palaniswami asks Centre to speed up air connectivity to Tamil Nadu towns

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Saturday urged the Centre to speed up air connectivity to the towns of the state, including the industrial hub of Hosur under the Regional Air Connectivity Scheme (RACS).

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, he said the Hosur airport should be made operational immediately.

The chief minister said the move would serve as an "engine of growth" to the industrial hub of Krishnagiri and neighbouring districts.

He said the flight operations were yet to start from Hosur "for want of No Objection Certificate from the Bengaluru International Airport, though the town was selected under the Centre's RACS in the first phase".

Also, the Hosur airport will help develop the Chennai-Bengalore industrial corridor, Palaniswami said.

"I, therefore, request you to kindly instruct the civil aviation authorities to make Hosur airport operational immediately," the AIADMK leader said.

He said the bidding process with airline operators has been completed in respect of Neyveli, which was also selected in phase I of the connectivity plan, and requested steps for early flight operations.

Noting that Ramanathapuram was picked in the second phase of the plan, Palaniswami said Rameswaram (an island and a pilgrimage centre about 59 km from Ramanathapuram town) attracted pilgrims from all over the country.

Hence, the air operations to Ramanathapuram should be expedited by starting the bidding process, he said.

The Regional Air Connectivity Scheme, also known as UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), is aimed at bringing air connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities and making air travel affordable for the people.

Flight services to Salem from Chennai took off in March this year, a first under the connectivity scheme.