Mlore-Blore traffic picks up post BIAL

Mlore-Blore traffic picks up post BIAL
From Ronald Anil Fernandes, DH News Service, Mangalore:


Has the air traffic between Mangalore and Bangalore declined after the commissioning of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) at Devanahalli? The answer is - No. In fact, there is a marginal increase in the air traffic between the cities when compared to last year.

While 8,219 passengers arrived from Bangalore to Mangalore and 7,628 passengers travelled from Mangalore to Bangalore in the month of May 2007, the number of arrivals and departure in the corresponding period in May 2008 was 9,282 and 9,493 respectively.

Similarly, 6,552 passengers arrived at Mangalore from Bangalore in June 2007 and 7,825 passengers travelled from Mangalore to Bangalore in the same month. The number of arrivals/departure for the corresponding period in June 2008 was 6,244 and 9,000 respectively.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Mangalore Airport Director M R Vasudeva said that there was no significant change after the commissioning of BIAL.

The difference between May and June in both the years is perhaps due to season and off season, he opined.
When contacted, one of the travel agents said that though it was believed that the re-opening of Shiradi Ghat would hit flight services, it did not.

“As it takes approximately two hours to travel to Bangalore from BIAL and approximately one hour to Mangalore airport from City, travelling by luxury/sleeper buses to Bangalore is much cheaper,” he said and added that there are buses to every nook and corner of Bangalore city from Mangalore.

“The air-conditioned sleeper buses are so comfortable that you board the bus at 11 pm in Mangalore and wake up at your destination in Bangalore at 6 am on the following day,” he said and added that it takes 4 to 5 hours by flight to reach the destination in Bangalore from Mangalore whereas the bus takes less than 7 hours!
On the contrary, another travel agent said that it is difficult to understand the mentality of Mangaloreans.
“Trains are running full and buses too are running full especially during the weekends and there is no significant change in air traffic,” he said.

An interesting point to be noted here is that the number of flights have been increased from 4 to 6 in the Mangalore - Bangalore sector this year.