From a scrubby airstrip to an international airport

Sudipto Mondal The Hindu

‘Years ago, it was only a clearing amidst palm trees’
The infrastructure development has kept pace with airline revolution, says a traveller
According to a businessman, its contribution to city’s economy is enormous
MANGALORE: Eulalia D’Souza (45) knows the Mangalore Airport since the time it was a scrubby airstrip. She has witnessed its growth into an “airfield” and then into a full-fledged airport from the time she was just a little girl waving excitedly at the occasional planes that landed there to an independent career woman, who flies as frequently by the aeroplanes as she undertakes shopping.
Ms. D’Souza, who is now the chairperson of the Tourism Sub-Committee (Airlines) of the Kanara Chambers of Commerce and Industry, has managed to preserve vivid memories of how the airport was like and its metamorphosis into its present status of an airport. “As a child I used to often accompany the elders to see off or receive a relative at the airport. In those days, it was nothing more than a clearing in the palm trees,” she said. Early days
According to her, there was nothing to deter people from walking onto the tarmac apart from the fear of being run down by a plane. “There was no wall and not a barricade either,” she said. Apart from a sleepy guard, who would occasionally shoo away children and animals straying on the tarmac, the place was a “yes thoroughfare”. “Those were the days when it was called the table-top airport.” Change
But times have changed and the airport is now being seen as a symbol of the region’s coming of age. “The growth of the airport has mirrored the economic growth of the region and its people,” said General Manager of Corporation Bank B.R. Bhat. More Mangaloreans have taken off in the last decade than ever before.
“But what is significant is the number of people that have flown into the city, bringing along with them, business opportunity and prosperity,” he said.
According to Mr. Bhat, the infrastructure at the airport has kept pace with the airline revolution of the last decade. “In the end, it benefited not only fliers but also the local economy,” he said. Economic advantage
Mohammed Eshaque, proprietor of “Bamson”, a tourism company that owns 12 cabs, said: “Ten years ago, we started with one car and today we have a fleet of 12 besides another 12 cars attached to us. If it were not for the airport, this would never have happened.”
According to Mr. Mohammed, the largest chunk of his business comes from the corporate sector. “In a day, we make at least 20 trips to the airport and back.
While we get several long distance trips too, travelling to the airport is the staple source of revenue,” he said. Carlton Misquith (25), a non-resident Indian, who has been flying into the city since his childhood, however, counts on a few problems with the airport.
“I know it is unfair to compare it to Heathrow or even the Delhi airport, but the infrastructure can be much better,” he said through an e-mail. According to him, the passenger waiting area, hospitality and the appearance of the airport, needed to be improved. Picturesque
However, he feels that the Mangalore Airport is one of the most picturesque in the world.
“One look at the airport after you are airborne makes you forget all the problems you face when you are down there,” he said.