Mysore Airport , also known as Mandakalli Airport, is a domestic airport serving

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, a city in the Indian state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. It is located near the village of Mandakalli, south of the city, and is owned and operated by the

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...

(AAI). As of January 2023, the airport has regular daily flights to

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. The airport's history dates to the 1940s, when it was constructed by the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

. Passenger service, training flights of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

, and other operations took place at Mysore Airport during its first several decades.

History

In 1940, the

Princely State of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

established the airport on of land. Following Indian independence in 1947, the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

assumed control of the airfield. The Ministry of Civil Aviation took control in 1950. Passenger service to

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

using

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...

aircraft began, but it did not last long as people found travel by road to be faster. Thereafter, ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' started daily flights from

via Bangalore to deliver its newspapers. However, these flights lasted only a few months. Afterward, the airfield was used by charter flights carrying foreign tourists and by flights transporting dignitaries to the city, such as

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

. The

operated training flights at the airport as well. In 1985, regional airline

Vayudoot Vayudoot ( hi, वायुदूत, Vāyudūt, messenger who rides on the wind) was a regional airline in India established on 20 January 1981 as a joint-venture between the two state-owned carriers, Indian Airlines and Air India. The airline ...

commenced thrice weekly flights from Bangalore using its

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 19 ...

aircraft. The service was inaugurated by famous Indian writer

R. K. Narayan Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001) was an Indian writer known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mul ...

. At the time, Mysore Airport consisted solely of a grass airstrip and a one-roomed terminal with one toilet. Because of low passenger loads, the flights ended in 1990. The existing terminal was built in 2010, allowing the airport to handle 200 passengers. Airlines started commencing flights, however due to poor response, the flights were stopped leaving the airport unused. With central government's

UDAN ''Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik'' (Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym ''UDAN'' (Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connectivi ...

scheme, flights started functioning again, and as of December 2020, there are flights to 7 destinations from Mysore Airport.

Infrastructure

Mysore Airport has a single runway, 09/27, with dimensions and the ability to service

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed b ...

turboprop and similar aircraft. The

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

has three parking stands and is connected to the runway by a single perpendicular taxiway. Mysore Airport's passenger terminal occupies and can hold a maximum of 200 passengers. Volvo buses from Mysuru City Bus Stand are available 7 times a day before flight timings.

Airlines and destinations

Future plans

Mysore Airport departures area, July 2016

Under the second phase of expansion, the runway would be lengthened to , allowing jet aircraft such as the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

and

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

to land at Mysore Airport. The runway cannot be extended to the west because of the presence of a railway line, while an extension to the east requires diverting National Highway 766. The State Government initially decided to hold off on this phase, preferring to wait until air traffic increased and the cost of diverting the highway was justified. Proposal for second phase was submitted by the State government of Karnataka for extension of runway. It proposed tunneling NH 766 beneath the runway, which requires less land than deviating the highway; but the Central Government rejected this proposal, citing security concerns. In August 2016, however, the ''

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded by Rajagopal Mudaliar in the 1930s & currently owned by Samagrah Commercial Pvt Limited. It is published in Hyderabad, Telangana, by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited ( ...

'' reported that the Ministry of Civil Aviation had directed airport officials to have a study conducted regarding tunneling of the highway. On 17 May 2018, central government gave permission to the above proposal and as per the plan the existing runway would be expanded to 2750 metres. In 2020, it was announced that government has agreed to upgrade Mysore Airport to an International Airport after runway expansion.

References

External links

*
Images of the inaugural Kingfisher Airlines flight

Mysore Airport
at the Airports Authority of India {{Airports in India Airports established in 1940