Pvt. operators ready if State Govt. gives tax holiday

Mysore, May 13 (KK&JP)-The Mysore Airport will be formally inaugurated by Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel on May 15 at 1 pm at Mandakalli here.

According to sources, Jet Airways will be making its foray over the skies of Mysore before landing at the airport thus giving the "Thumbs Up" sign that the airport is well and ready.

Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa will be the chief guest while Union External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna will preside. Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily will be the special guest.

Mysore District in-Charge Minister S. Suresh Kumar, Chairman of Airports Authority of India V. P. Agarwal, Leader of Opposition Siddharamaiah, Mysore MP Adagur H. Viswanath, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President R. V. Deshpande, Mayor Sandesh Swamy, and MLA M. Sathyanarayana will be the guests of honor.

Meanwhile, hectic preparations are going on at Mandakalli with teams of workers clearing the roads and laying footpaths along with sanitation facilities. A huge shamiana is being raised to help the guests beat the shimmering heat outside.

It may be recalled that the Mysore Airport had made several attempts to take off but had come a cropper with leading carriers shying away claiming that unless they are given tax rebates on aviation fuel etc., they had no intention of flying in and out of Mysore.

In fact, recently the Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) made a powerpoint presentation to officials of Jet Airways about the future passenger turnover of the city. They had said that business houses and IT firms would be using Mysore as a ‘taxi service’ to Chennai and Bangalore Airports, from where they could get connecting flights to capitals across the globe.

When asked, one of the Mandakalli Airport authorities said that the ball is firmly in the Karnataka Government’s court.

On conditions of anonymity, he said that the delay was because the State government could not make up its mind about giving tax and aviation fuel tax holidays to private authorities. In fact, a leading airline operator had sought a 50 percent cut in aviation fuel prices as well as a tax holiday.

ACICM to submit a memorandum to CM

Meanwhile, the Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens of Mysore (ACICM) told SOM that it would urge the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the State Government to make the Mysore Airport operational.

In this connection, ACICM has called for a public meeting tomorrow (May 14) at 4 pm at the Institution of Engineers Hall on JLB Road, to prepare a memorandum of suggestions that will be submitted to the Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Chief Minister Yeddyurappa.

Courtesy:Star Of Mysore