Union minister Siddeshwara says air connectivity to Mysore will continue

MYSORE: The tourist hub will continue to operate flights this Dasara season, the Union minister of state for civil aviation G M Siddeshwara said on Saturday even as he sought the state government’s assistance to improve traffic to tier II cities. He said the Union government has invested Rs 80 crore to build the Mysore Airport and will not allow it to stop operation of commercial flights. “The city will continue to operate commercial flights during Dasara festival. I can tell you that,” Siddeshwara, who arrived in Mysore on a two day visit, said. He said he has got information that the sole operator could stop the operations from September 1 but insisted that he wants to get complete details before he could comment on the issue further. When pointed out that the cancellation could affect Mysore’s brand value, he told reporters: “I’ll get the details and comment. But I’ll tell you that Mysore will not go off the radar.”The minister with the PWD minister H C Mahadevappa will visit the airport on Sunday and discuss about its upgradation. Former MP Adagooru H Vishwanath met Siddeshwara at Suttur mutt and requested him to intervene to operated commercial flights from Mysore. During the meeting, Siddeshwara pointed out that the state charges 28 per cent for aviation fuel which has made air travel costlier. He asked Vishwanath to get the aviation fuel cheaper so that air travel becomes affordable, sources said. The minister said the tax on aviation fuel is an issue that the state needs to address and said he will discuss it with Mahadevappa during their joint inspection.