Less flights from Bhopal burn holes in pockets of flyers

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government's move to make the state a hot investment destination and ensure good air connectivity to the state capital has hit an air pocket. The recent move to slash VAT on aviation turbine fuel from 23% to 5% has also failed to push flights from the state capital.
Bhopal currently is connected only to Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Raipur and Hyderabad with limited number of flights. It has practically no flight service to East and South India.
While government's move to invite private airlines to operate in the state had miserably failed in the past, the decision to lower VAT on ATF too made no difference.

None of the airlines have decided to increase its frequency or start new flights connecting Bhopal to new destinations. The reduction of VAT on ATF announced by Raman Singh government benefitted Chhattisgarh but not Madhya Pradesh. Airlines have been claiming that operating on Bhopal sector is unviable due to poor load (traffic), but the figures show otherwise. During the last three years air passenger traffic from Bhopal has registered a steady increase of about 30%. On an average, around 500 travellers fly from Bhopal to different destinations daily.
Read News in full 18/12/13 Ramendra Singh/Times of India