Three new flights from Mysuru become a reality today

Mysuru: After being a name-sake airport and a grazing land for cows and buffalos for years together, the Mysore Airport at Mandakalli on the outskirts of Mysuru is getting a much-needed attention in the form of new flights. 

The Airport that was operating a lone daily flight to Chennai in the evening is now flying to many destinations including Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad and Goa. There has been a demand for more connectivity ‘from Mysuru’ and ‘to Mysuru’ from other cities which would improve industry and tourism. 

Giving a boost to the flights is the land acquisition for the expansion of runway from the existing 5,700 feet (only suitable for ATR planes providing short-haul flight operations) to 7,900 feet and 45 metres width that allows jet aircraft such as Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 to land.

This morning, the flight to Kochi took off from the Mysore Airport at 8.15 am and arrived at Kochi at 9.45 am. Airport officials said that there were 58 passengers on board — a good number of occupancy for the maiden flight. In the return direction, the flight will take off from Kochi at 10.10 am and reach Mysuru at 11.40 am. 

One more flight will take off to Goa this afternoon at 3.20 pm and is scheduled to touch Goa at 4.50 pm. Over 60 passengers had booked their tickets till 12 pm. Flight operators expect at least 5 more passengers to book tickets by 3 pm. In the return direction, the flight will leave Goa at 5.20 pm and land at Mysore Airport at 6.50 pm. 

In the evening today, a new flight will take off to Hyderabad at 7.20 pm and is scheduled to reach the City of Pearls at 9.05 pm. Airport authorities said that there were over 50 passengers in the flight and more bookings are expected  by the evening. In the return direction, the flight will leave Hyderabad at 6.05 am and reach Mysore Airport at 7.50 am. 

While the flight to Hyderabad is 1 hour 45 minutes, the flights to Kochi and Goa is 1 hour, 30 minutes. 

Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had given approval for additional flights from Mysuru under the third phase of UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik), the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme. The air fares are capped at Rs. 2,500 for an hour-long flight for 50% of seats. The remaining seats can be sold at market rates.