MADURAI, September 12, 2012 | The Hindu
R. Sairam
A front view of Madurai Airport.
: Fears over the first full-fledged international flight from Madurai
airport appear to be receding following assurances from SpiceJet, whose Colombo
flight service was in doubt following the recent tension over the presence of
Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu. The Madurai-Colombo flight service was seen as the
one that would herald international connectivity for Madurai and the southern
districts.
The Sri Lankan Government had issued a travel advisory warning its
citizens to stay out of Tamil Nadu following incidents such as the stoning of a
convoy of Sri Lankan pilgrims near Thajavur. B.S.G. Musthafa, president of
Travel Club, told The Hindu here on Tuesday that the vice-president
(Commercial) of SpiceJet Airways, V. Raja, visited Madurai on Monday and
assured travel agents that the Madurai airport’s first full-fledged
international flight service, Madurai-Colombo-Madurai, would be operated as per
schedule.
He also said that the inaugural flights in both directions were almost
fully booked. Later in the evening, he also met the District Collector Anshul
Mishra and invited him for the function scheduled to mark the inaugural flight.
Mr. Musthafa also added that senior officials from Sri Lankan travel
agencies would come to Madurai shortly to meet their counterparts in the Temple
City and hold discussions for promoting tourism between Sri Lanka and Tamil
Nadu. S. Rethinavelu, senior president of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, which is also in the forefront of the campaign for getting
international connectivity to Madurai, said that the tension seemed to be
subsidising in the past few days. The chamber was taking a trade delegation of
50 members in the first flight itself to Sri Lanka to meet their counterparts,
officials and Ministers to further improve bilateral trade and investment
between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.
The delegation would fully proceed with the programmes planned. The
businessmen would look not only at opportunities for export-import activities
but also explore the possibility of starting joint ventures with the Sri Lankan
companies, he added.
