Mysore Airport

History

In 1940, the Princely State of Mysore established the airport on 290 acres (120 ha) of land. Following Indian independence in 1947, the Government of Karnataka assumed control of the airfield. The Ministry of Civil Aviation took control in 1950. Passenger service to Bangalore using Dakota aircraft began, but it did not last long as people found travel by road to be faster. Thereafter, The Hindu started daily flights from Chennai via Bangalore to deliver its newspapers. However, these flights lasted only a few months.

Afterward, the airfield was used by charter flights carrying foreign tourists and by flights transporting dignitaries to the city, such as Jawaharlal Nehru. The Indian Air Force operated training flights at the airport as well. In 1985, regional airline Vayudoot commenced thrice weekly flights from Bangalore using its Dornier Do 228 aircraft. The service was inaugurated by famous Indian writer R. K. Narayan. At the time, Mysore Airport consisted solely of a grass airstrip and a one-roomed terminal with one toilet. Because of low passenger loads, the flights ended in 1990.

Modernisation and later developments (2005–present)

Since the 1960s, the city of Mysore had been appealing to the Central Government to upgrade the airport. Mysore has a large tourism industry, and it is the second largest exporter of IT products in the state. On 6 October 2005, the State Government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed a memorandum of understanding on the refurbishment of the airport. A new runway, passenger terminal, apron and air traffic control tower were built at a cost of ₹82 crore (US$12 million). Construction was completed in September 2009. However, amid the economic recession, no airline had yet decided to begin flights to the airport.

The airport was inaugurated on 15 May 2010 by then Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa. Many airlines remained reluctant to begin flights, expecting poor passenger numbers and hindered by the inability of the airport to handle jet aircraft. Kingfisher Airlines finally announced it would introduce flights from Chennai via Bangalore from 1 October, just before the start of Dasara. The flights were operated by Kingfisher Red. However, Kingfisher discontinued service to Mysore on 7 November 2011. Although the flights had performed well during Dasara, occupancy declined thereafter. In addition, Kingfisher was dealing with financial problems and had decided to end Kingfisher Red operations.

SpiceJet began the same Mysore–Bangalore–Chennai route on 14 January 2013. The airline suspended the service in July 2014 because of low passenger traffic. After speaking with local stakeholders and members of government, SpiceJet decided to resume flights in August, only to suspend them again in September. The airline resumed the service later in the month before finally terminating it on 25 October.

On 3 September 2015, Air India Regional commenced Mysore–Bangalore flights, subsidised by the State Government. The flights had extremely low passenger loads, which some passengers attributed to the inconvenient timings. Air India ended the service on 17 November following the end of the subsidy arrangement.

In April 2016, the AAI deemed the Mysore airport unproductive, as it had incurred high losses operating the airport. Nevertheless, the state government decided to extend its memorandum of understanding with the AAI by another five years, believing the airport is necessary for future economic development in Mysore. In 2016, Mysore Airport was used by the Reserve Bank of India's subsidiary Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Limited to carry banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series from the High-Security printing press to various branches of the Reserve Bank across the country.

Airfield

Mysore Airport has a single runway, 09/27, with dimensions 1,740 by 30 metres (5,709 ft × 98 ft). It can handle the ATR 72 turboprop and similar aircraft. The original grass airstrip, 05/23, has been decommissioned. The apron has three parking stands and is connected to the runway by a single perpendicular taxiway.

Terminal

The airport has a single passenger terminal, which occupies 3,250 square metres (35,000 sq ft) and has a capacity of 150 passengers.

Access

Mysore Airport is linked to the city of Mysore by National Highway 766, which meets Mysore Ring Road about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of the airport.

Future plans

Under the second phase of expansion, the runway would be lengthened to 2,400 metres (7,900 ft), allowing jet aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 to land at Mysore Airport. The runway cannot be extended to the west because of the presence of a railway line, while an extension to the east requires diverting National Highway 766. The State Government initially decided to hold off on this phase, preferring to wait until air traffic increased and the cost of diverting the runway was justified.

The second phase was revived under the Siddaramaiah administration. It proposed tunneling NH 766 beneath the runway, which requires less land than deviating the highway; but the Central Government rejected this proposal, citing security concerns. In August 2016, however, the Deccan Chronicle reported that the Ministry of Civil Aviation had directed airport officials to have a study conducted regarding tunneling of the highway.