salem, 27th aug,
Talks are on with kingfishers to operate flight to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Via chennai. Leaders of various industries urged the kingfisher officials who were here y/day to take account the fesibilities of flight operations from salem, which the company spoke few days before.
The meeting focused on the advantages of reviving the airport for passenger traffic and tried to impress upon the trade team from the airlines by offering them a string of promises and hopes on the viability of their operations. The members of trade and industry and travel agents claimed that there was scope for operating flights to Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata via Chennai.
President of Salem, Dharmapuri Chamber of Commerce and Industry S. Sathyanarayanan pointed out that the feasibility behind the passenger traffic from Salem Airport while the president of Salem District Small Scale Industries Association K Mariappan, who chaired the meeting, insisted on a reasonable airfare. He also said that he met the Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in this regard recently, who promised to provide all support in this regard.
Textiles Committee Deputy Director A. Dhanapal explained the potential in textile sector, which he said would ensure steady flow of passengers to Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi while Salem Steel Plant Assistant General Manager Yesudoss pointed out the urgent need for air traffic. Industrialists Senthilnathan, M.V. Sellamuthu, George Rajamanickam and others spoke about the various opportunities to increase and improve the air travel from Salem
On the educational front, Secretary of Sona Group of Educational Institutions A. Dhirajlal said that many students from various states and abroad, were studying in colleges in and around Salem and Namakkal. “Our institutions boast of nearly 400 such students and their parents frequently visit them here. The availability of air travel will be of a great boon to them since they spend long hours on trains,” he said. Many other institutions on their rolls have foreign students and those from other states including from North East states.
The team of officers led by Sukumar Cornelius, Sales Manager (Trade), Kingfisher Airlines Limited, after hearing the suggestions from the trade and industry, pointed out that they submit a report on their Salem trip to their Chairman Vijay Mallaya. Saying that they needed to be assured of at least 50 passengers per day, the members from the airlines insisted that database of various industrial and trade institutions, the investments and turnovers with statistics of their staff and visitors travelled recently. The airlines’ other members were M D. Sriram and Gangadurai, both Sales Managers, Coimbatore.