Chennai: The hustle and bustle at the Chennai airport’s domestic terminal has increased of late as more and more people are taking flight from the city in view of the broiling heat with various airlines operating a plethora of special summer services to different destinations like Thoothukudi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
Those leaving for destinations within the State like Madurai and Coimbatore are mostly headed to salubrious hill stations like Kodiakanal and Ooty and the others, too, are travelling with families with different places to take a break from the sultry weather that is becoming unbearable day after day.
According to airport sources about 40 special flights are being operated from Chennai over and above the regular services, leading to the heavy rush since morning hours at the airport. Apart from the heat, many politicians are also leaving the city with families in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha elections, sources said.
Also many families are visiting the hometowns across the State in view of the summer vacation for schools and colleges, adding to the crowds at the airport and prompting the airlines to cash in on the increased demand for tickets.
Hitherto, only three onward and three return flights were operated to Thoothukudi, the airport that caters to the people in the southern districts of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. But now four plus four flights are being operated.
Similarly the demand for seats in the flights to Trichy, the city in the central part of the State that connects many towns and villages in several districts, has gone up and six flights are taking off from Chennai every day as against the four before the onset of the summer.
To Coimbatore, too, the number of daily flights have been increased from 6 to 8 and for Madurai it is 7 now as against the earlier 5 and many of those passengers are leaving for destinations in the hill stations near them.
Similarly, many people are also taking holidays in Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the States of Karnataka and Telangana, impelling the flight operators to raise the number of services. So Bengaluru now has 11 flights as against the earlier 8 and Hyderabad has presently 14 services one way while it used to be 10 plus 10 otherwise.
Even people travelling to faraway destinations in the country and abroad has increased phenomenally with a thrice a week direct flights being introduced for Durgapur from mid-May. Similarly, even international airlines like Air France have increased their weekly flights between Paris and Chennai from 3 to 5.
Indigo Airlines has also announced the introduction of a direct flight from Chennai to Bangkok, a favorite destination for tourists from all over the world, from May 15 and Air Mauritius has reintroduced its direct flight from Mauritius to Chennai after a gap of four years.
Since flights to Singapore, Malaysia, London and other international tourist spots have also increased from Chennai that saw an introduction of about 40 additional or new flights, this May will see an additional 400 flights taking off from Chennai, airport sources said.
The increase in number of flights had come as a boon for travelers as they were able to get seats to their favoured destinations and also did not have to cough up huge amounts as premium charges.
