Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Jul 26: Minister for infrastructure development and information Roshan Baig on Friday July 25 assured that a delegation from the state would meet the minister of state for civil aviation in New Delhi to urge the restoration of direct flights from Mangalore to Kuwait.

He was responding to a question raised by MLC from Mangalore Ivan D'Souza during the state Legislative Council session, on reasons for stopping direct flights between Mangalore and Kuwait.

Ivan also said that due to the stoppage of the direct flight operation, commuters from Mangalore have been badly hit. "Out of the 7.62 lac NRIs in Kuwait, 1.3 lac are from the coastal Karnataka region alone. They need to be given this facility," he urged.

Baig said that the prime reason for stopping direct flights on Mangalore-Kuwait route was the lack of passenger response. To this, Ivan D'Souza replied that when the Air India Express direct flight was in operation on this route, only 60 seats were reserved for Mangaloreans and the rest 120 were for Keralites who boarded from Calicut. "The seats reserved for Mangaloreans were always full, but the response was not the same from Keralites, which gave the impression that the overall response was less," said Ivan.

"If not Air India, the government should at least make arrangements for private airlines to fly on this route," he urged. He also pointed out that there was a strong lobby of officials preventing direct flights between Mangalore and Kuwait.

Stating that Ivan was being 'sentimental' Roshan Baig said, "Now we have G M Siddeshwara, who is from Karnakata, as the union minister of state for civil aviation. I will request him to resume the direct flight between Mangalore and Kuwait. I will also take a delegation with Ivan D'Souza to meet minister Siddeshwara."

Ivan D'Souza also invited Roshan Baig to visit Mangalore to assess the situation himself. Baig replied that he would do so along with a team.

Runway extension on PPP model

On a question raised by Ivan on the extension of runway at Mangalore International Airport, Roshan Baig said that a feasibility report is being prepared for extending the run by one kilometre, and the project would cost Rs 1,120 crore. Also, as it is a table top runway, the trenches have to be filled with mud. Hence, instead of the government alone bearing the entire cost, the chief minister is mulling to take this up on public-private partnership (PPP) model. "Land measuring 289.33 acress is required to extend the runway by one kilometre. We have already acquired three hillocks to level the land for extending the runway" Baig said.