Will shifting of flying club help woo investments?

EVEN as there is palpable excitement over the shifting of Madras Flying Club (MFC) to Tiruchy from Chennai, worries remain about unavailability of commercial flights to New Delhi and Mumbai. "The coming of MFC is great news, but we need air connectivity to Delhi and Mumbai. We have approached several air-lines to resume operations on the Tiruchy-Mumbai and Tiruchy-Delhi routes. We hope they would consider it," said M Thangaraju, secretary, Tiruchirappalli District Chamber of Commerce. Sources, however, said domestic carriers are unlikely to start new operations as most of
them are facing losses.

"Fluctuation in the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and depreciating value of the Indian rupee have increased the debt burden of most Indian airlines. There-fore, domestic carriers are unlikely to announce operations on new routes in the immediate future. "When Jet Airways stopped flights on the Mumbai and Del-hi routes from Tiruchy, we expected other airlines would step in to fill the void. But they are not taking up such a profit-able route because of the cur-rent market situation," an aviation source said. On the flip side, there is optimism that moving MFC would bring in help attract investments to the city. Coming as does on the eve of Global Investors Meet 2019 (GIM-2019) the move has raised expectations of the industrial sector.

MFC is expected to start functioning out of Tiruchy air-port by January 15 and GIM-2019 is scheduled from January 23 and 24, Tiruchy would be able to be showcased as a central district with an internationally well-connected airport and a flying club. "Investors always look for various facilities available in a place. So, we can present our district with a well-connected airport, a flying club and strong infrasturue.


Therefore, the shifting of MFC is a boost to our investment potential." said S Ananthakrishnan, chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry. Tiruchy Zone. Tiruchy district is expecting to attract Investments to the tune of 12,000 crore. infrastructure. Therefore, the shifting of MFC is a boost to our investment potential," said S Ananthakrishnan, chairman, Confederation of Indian Indus-try, Tiruchy Zone.

The travel sector too is up-beat. "The Tamil Nadu government had reduced the tax on ATF from 29 per cent to 1 per cent for aircraft arriving after 11 pm and departing before 7 am for a few airports like Tiruchy. If we get more investment, the government would come up with more incentives. Therefore, the current market situation is not a major con-cern," said N Ramesh, a city-based travel agent.

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