Mysore:
It is a city, next only to Agra and Jaipur, in terms of the number of tourists it draws. The footfalls at its main palace have been compared to that at London's wax museum. But, despite all these highflying credits, what Mysore didn't have till now was an airport.
Mysore got what it had been seeking for more than a decade now: A new airport. The fourth civil aviation airport to be opened in Karnataka, the Mysore airport will cater to a growing number of tourists, foreign students, industrialists and IT professionals.
Veerappa Moily, Former Chief Minister of Karnataka says, "This was the deficit here. This is no way less than Jaipur but because Jaipur is nearer to Delhi, it has an excellent airport. But now, Mysore too will grow.
The Mysore airport is equipped to handle only ATR aircraft with limited capacity but that itself is a welcome move for air travelers from these districts, who now won't have to travel to Bangalore city, and then 40 km ahead to the only airport they have access to this far.
Lawrence Surendra, a Mysorean says, "I won't tell you how many times I have missed a flight. But I will just tell you this, out of the 140 km from Mysore, I20 km you do in 120 minutes. Then the balance 20 km in Bangalore, you take 120 minutes! That is, if you are lucky."
For Karnataka's second largest city, the airport might just be the flight to economic growth.