Mangalore Airport is safe – Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily

Mangalore Airport is safe – Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Oct 30, 2011: Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the 2-day workshop titled “Tabletop Airports and Safety Aspects” organized jointly by the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NIT-K) and Mangalore Airport Diamond Jubilee Celebration Committee, Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, the union minister of corporate affairs, said that there should be no misconceptions regarding the Mangalore Airport because it has been licensed by the DGCA and its runway has been constructed as per International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) norms, which include Runway End Safety Area (RESA), owing to which it can be declared as an international airport.

Moily further said that the airport has a runway of 8000ft and the state government has allotted 205 acres of land for its extension to 9500ft. The estimated cost for runway extension and other essential infrastructure is Rs. 51 crore, and the proposal will be submitted to the AAI for approval, he said. The proposal to construct a new control tower and technical block at the cost of Rs. 26.57 crore has already been approved, he added.

 

 

 

Further, he said that the new air traffic control tower is under construction and will be completed in 18 months, adding that the old terminal building might be transformed into a facility for international and domestic cargo operation.

Voicing his opinion of the aviation industry, he said that it is growing steadily, accounting for approximately 1.7 percent of world GDP with more than US$1.1 trillion turnover. Around 25 percent of manufactured goods are being transported by air, he said and added that the air freight has increased by 62 percent in 10 years and domestic flights have growth at a faster pace than international flights in the past 5 years.

Speaking on the occasion, D. Devaraj, the regional executive director of Airports Authority of India (southern region), said that Mangalore Airport can now handle Airbus 320 aircraft. Stating that the AAI focuses on safety, he said that each airport will have to have an annual study, a technical study, and a surveillance study.
Lamenting over the large number of misconceptions regarding Mangalore Airport, M. R. Vasudeva, the director of Mangalore Airport, said that the Mangalore Airport is absolutely safe and that there is no cause for fear.

Speaking on the occasion, Sandeep Sancheti, the director of NIT-K, said that Mangalore is one of the few cities, which have all modes of transport such as water, rail, air, and road.

Speaking on the need to remove fear of air travel, T. S. N. Murthy, the deputy director of NMPT, said that Mangalore Airport is safe because over 30,000 planes have landed safely on its runway.