MADURAI

Introduction:

Madurai Airport is one of the steadily growing non metro Indian airport which lies 12 kilometers from Madurai City. This customs airport began commercial operations in 1957.

History:

The areas of Madurai Airport was initially used for Aviation purposes in 1942 as an airfield, (Madurai Airfield) in 1942 by the British Royal Airforce during World War 2. After the end of World War 2 the airport was used by "Hindu" a leading Indian National Newspaper to bring its newspapers printed in Chennai to Madurai.

As demand for civil aviation by the people living in and around Madurai increased, several works were done and the airport was opened as a Civil Airport in 1952. The first aircraft to fly from Madurai Airport was the Fokker- Friendship aircraft. The plane flew from Madurai Airport to Trivandrum Airport and then Madras Airport (now Chennai Airport). Certain developments were done during mid 1970s including strengthening and extending the runway to be able to accommodate heavier and bigger aircraft. The first big plane to use these extended facilities was an Indian airlines B-737. Then in 1980s Indian Airlines launched flights connecting Bangalore 4 times a week using HS-748 Avro Aircraft. Later Vayudoot a regional air carrier operated flights connecting Madurai with Coimbatore Airport, Trichy Airport and Madras Airport.

Flights connecting Madurai Airport with Trivandruam Airport and Bombay Airport were launched in 1991/92 by the now defunct East-West Airlines. This flight service was stopped following the ceasing of operations of EW airlines. After this flights connecting Madurai Airport to Bombay Airport and Coimbatore Airport were launched by Indian Airlines. Flights connecting Madurai Airport to Madras and Trichy Airports were launched and later discontinued by Indian Airlines. Indian Airlines then stopped all routes to Madurai keeping a route Madurai and Madras only live. Meanwhile NEPC airlines launched twice daily flight services between Madurai and Madras Airports. The evening NEPC flight was then altered to Madurai - Trichy - Madras and vice versa. Indian Airlines then replaced the current flights with the Madurai - Madras - Bombay Route. Later Jet Airways began operations in Madurai launching a non-stop flight connecting Madurai and Bombay and then replacing it with Madurai to Madras flight twice a day.

Air Deccan a then newly formed budget airlines launched a flight service connecting Madurai Airport and Bangalore Airport. The Madurai-Bangalore flight service was continued even after Air Deccan was acquired by King Fisher Air Lines. King Fisher red started a twice daily flight service connecting Madras Airport and Madurai Airport.

In the year 2005 Paramount Airways came as an aggressive player having Madurai Airport as one of its major hubs. But it did not last long and its operations were shut down due to legal disputes. Later as aircraft carriers were struggling under a global recession, King Fisher Red also stopped its operations from Madurai. Then in the year 2010 Spicejet started a daily service from Madurai Airport to Madras Airport to Delhi Airport and Vice Versa and another service from Madurai Airport to Madras Airport to Mumbai Airport and Vice Versa. As demand for the two services were good, Spicejet later stated another daily service connecting Madurai Airport with Hyderabad Airport. Seeing the demand for flights to Metros from Madurai, Jet Airways launched a flight service connecting Madurai and Bangalore five Times a week. From then on several flights are available to the people of Madurai connecting to Major destinations in the world.

Madurai Airport was on list of the 35 non Metro airports selected for modernization by Airport Authority of India. Later this airport was modernized and notification giving it the status of customs airport was issued in December 31, 2011. The status of customs airport was given from January 1, 2012. The first time International aircrafts landed in Madurai Airport was on August 25, 2012 when 2 Malaysian charted flights landed in Madurai Airport. Later on September 20, 2012 regular international flight services were started from Madurai Airport to Colombo Airport. Flights connecting Dubai were later launched by Spicejet on November 22, 2013. The Department of Revenue which functions under the Finance Ministry has issued a notice permitting cargo handling in the Madurai Airport. Direct flight services to Singapore started by Air India Express from 15.09.2017. International cargo will be commissioned shortly

Present Status:

Presently Madurai Airport is having 40(20 Arrivals + 20 Departures) scheduled movements per day operated by various scheduled airline operators Air India, Jet Airways, Spice Jet, Indigo, Srilankan Airlines, Air India Express and Alliance air. Among these 8 movements (4 arrivals + 4 Departures) are international operations. 

Common user Domestic Cargo Terminal is available at Madurai Airport for public use. The infrastructure for handling international cargo operations presently available at Madurai Airport and soon the same will be put into operation.

The Madurai RWY is 2285meters length and capable of accommodating aircraft upto A321-200 and B737-800.  Airport is equipped with seven parking stands, in that 2 stands are provided with Aerobridge facility.

Madurai Airport is already in the process of extension of Runway and parking stands to meet the future requirements.  The regular meetings are conducted with District and State administration in order to acquire the land for expansion of Airport.

About the City

Madurai is a major city and cultural headquarters in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and the 31st largest urban agglomeration in India. Madurai is the third largest city by area and third largest city by population in Tamil Nadu. Madurai is located on banks of river Vaigai. Madurai has been a major settlement for two millennia and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world with a history dating all the way back to the Sangam period of the pre Christian era.  Madurai apparently named for the nectar that flowed from Lord Shiva’s hair as a blessing for the new city (Madhuram is the Tamil word for sweetness).  City was built by the Pandyan king Kulasekara.  Jasmine flowers from Madurai are transported to various other cities of India as well as to foreign countries.

Even though Madurai has been referred as temple city, Madurai is an important industrial and educational hub in South Tamil Nadu. Madurai City is gearing up for Round 2 of Smart City Challenge. In Round 1 of this challenge, Madurai was ranked 28 out of 100. Madurai narrowly missed the opportunity to make it to the first list and this time the Madurai Municipal Corporation (MMC) is leaving no stone unturned to see Madurai in the next round of Smart cities.

Madurai Corporation is currently working with all the stake holders to revise and strengthen its Smart City proposal. The most crucial inputs for revising and strengthening the current proposal will have to come from the citizens of Madurai. Citizens’ engagement and feedback will help us in identifying priority areas and also pinpoint the drawbacks in the current proposal.

About the City population, Economy, Industry & Tourism

Population:  The population of Madurai Municipal Corporation according to the 2011 census is 1,017,865.

Industry & Economy:  The city is home to various automobile, rubber, chemical and granite manufacturing industries. It has developed as a second-tier city for information technology (IT), and some software companies have opened offices in Madurai. Software Technology Parks of India, an agency of the Government of India, has authorized several such companies to receive benefits under its national information technology development program.[147] The state government proposed two IT-based Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Madurai, and these have been fully occupied by various IT companies

Surprisingly the city not known to many people for industries but Madurai is the birth place of top corporate companies in India like TVS groups and JK Fenner and it is not known to everybody that, Madurai is the hub of manufacturing valves for nuclear plants in various countries. Madurai is one of the few rubber growing areas in South India and there are rubber-based industries in Madurai.  Gloves, sporting goods, mats, other utility products and automobile rubber components are the most produced items by these industries. Automobile manufacturers are the major consumers of rubber components produced in the city. There are numerous textile, granite and chemical industries operating in Madurai.

Madurai is famed for its jasmine plantations, called "Madurai Malli and  Madurai is well known to outside world for its perfumed Jasmine flowers. Madurai Malli is an important horticultural produce. The buds are transported every day to major cities in India, like Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore. The legendary Jasmine flowers from Madurai are world famous. Every day, these fresh flowers find their way to international markets also. It’s a fast race at break-neck speed. Fresh flowers sent from Madurai to Chennai before eight in the morning, there flowers are tied into garlands or strands, packed into specially made thermocol boxes and air-lifted. London, France, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai are the top four destinations for this unpreserved, yet considerably valuable commodity.

Tourism potential:

            The city attracts a large number of tourists from within the country and abroad. Approximately 9,00,000 tourists visiting Madurai every year, in that around 5,00,000 tourists are foreigners. Madurai is now attracting medical tourism also.  There are so many tourist attractions in and around Madurai. Few of them are Madurai Meenakshi temple, Thirumalai Naiker palace and The National Gandhi Museum which are inside Madurai city.  Around Madurai district there are lot of tourist spots like, Kodaikanal hill station, periyar wildlife sanctuary, Vaigai Dam and Munnar hill station.

Transport Facilities- Connectivity of Airport by Rail, Road & Air: