Bhopal, Aug 18 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government Wednesday decided to link major cities of the state by air by roping in private operators for the purpose.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
‘In the first phase, state’s commercial hub Indore, state capital Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior and Satna will be linked through air services. A policy to this effect has also been approved,’ an official source told IANS.
The cabinet also decided to float a tender to assign the task to a private operator for launching the air services. The private airline is to be chosen through competitive bidding.
The source added that private operators will be able to fly minimum nine-seater planes though they will be allowed to fix fares of their choice.
The operators will keep certain percentage of seats reserved for state government officials and if the reserved seat remains vacant, the operator will be free to sell the seats in the market.
The private operator will pay fees related to Union Civil Aviation Ministry, Director General Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India and will also be liable to follow the rules and regulations set by them.
The operator will have to make payments for fire tenders and ambulances if it uses airstrips owned by the state government while security arrangements will be made available by the government.
