Air link between Mysuru and Chennai was revived on Friday after a brief hiatus, shoring up connectivity between the two cities.
Though TruJet used to operate between the two cities it was discontinued though the originating air passenger traffic between the two cities was high.
The authorities, after a prolonged negotiations with Indigo, convinced it of the traffic potential between the two cities after which the inaugural flight was flagged off in a subdued manner owing to the pandemic.
There were 35 passengers for both the inbound and outbound flights on the first day.
This is a non-UDAN flight. Indigo flights between Mysuru and Chennai will operate thrice a week to start with and is expected to garner additional traffic in the days ahead so as to become a daily service. Flight 6E7269 will depart from Chennai at 2.50 p.m. and arrive at Mysuru at 4.15 p.m. In the return direction the flight will depart from Mysuru at 4.35 p.m. and reach Chennai at 5.55 p.m.
Mysuru Airport Director R. Manjunath said the Mysuru-Chennai traffic has been encouraging and the occupancy rate was always in excess of 80 per cent in the ATR72 flights which can carry about 70 passengers.
‘’We are confident that given the number of passengers who travel between the two cities Indigo will make it a daily service in due course’’, he said.
The TruJet discontinuation was attributed to operational reasons and has nothing to do with the market potential, according to the authorities. With the introduction of Indigo flights, Mysuru is now connected to Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kochi, Goa, Hyderabad and Chennai. Despite the pandemic, things are looking bright and the occupancy rates are higher than 80 per cent, according to Mr. Manjunath.
As far as Chennai was concerned, there was a ready market as the flight duration is less than 2 hours while the overnight trains take about 8 to 9 hours. The fare was affordable and the number of people visiting Chennai for business or to obtain visa at the US Consulate was high, Mr. Manjunath added.
