The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Coimbatore has requested the Union Civil Aviation Minister to expedite works relating to the expansion of Coimbatore airport that has been declared an international airport.

It has also urged him to link more domestic and international cities with Coimbatore and encourage global operators to launch services to and from the city.

R.R. Balasundharam, President, ICCI, Coimbatore, in a communication to the Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said Coimbatore airport was yet to be equipped with the requisite infrastructure facilities and the flights operated to and from the city were “not sufficient”.

He said the airport expansion programme should be speeded up and the number of cargo flights from the city enhanced. He wanted the airport to be covered under bilateral agreements for unrestricted operations as had been done for other non-metro airports in the South to get more international connectivity.

Listing the international flights to be launched, he said services to the Middle East with onward connections to Europe and North America should be introduced and there should be daily flights to Dubai. The tri-weekly Silk Air service to Singapore should be converted into a daily service and the Air Arabia flight to Sharjah should be made a daily service from the current five weekly services.

Balasundharam said Air Asia, Fly Dubai and Bahrain Air had earlier evinced interest in operating services to Coimbatore and they should be permitted to launch services to the city. He also wanted global players such as Emirates, Etihad, Malaysian Airlines and Lufthansa to be contacted for launching services to the tex-city.

He sought the Aviation Minister’s assistance in improving passenger amenities and improving infrastructure in the airport.

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