Concerns have been raised by the Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) about the unreliable air services at Kandla Airport, which are hurting businesses and slowing down East Kutch's economic growth. Many flight delays have cost businesses in many areas, such as ports, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), timber, salt, oil, steel, cement, textiles, ceramics, fertilizers, and more.
Because of this, the GCCI submitted an appeal to K. Rammohan Naidu, who is the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Vinod Chavda, who is a Member of Parliament (MP), and Maltiben Maheshwari, who is a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). The letter requests the government to step in and fix the problems with air travel that are affecting the area.
A dependable air transportation system is very important for East Kutch's economic growth, according to the GCCI. A lot of tourists are coming to the area, and more and more Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRGs) are coming too. Unreliable flight times, on the other hand, make it hard for both work and pleasure trips.
Mahesh Pujara, President of the GCCI, talked about the problems with the infrastructure at Kandla Airport. Key problems that needed to be solved were the lack of night landing facilities and the need to make the runway longer. Even though the airport can operate at night, it can't because there aren't enough staff or resources.
The Kutch district doesn't have access to good air services because of this, which makes it harder for businesses to run and for the area to grow.
The honorary secretary of the GCCI, Mahesh Tirthani, said that the Chamber had worked with a private aviation company to do a study to find out if the runways needed to be longer. He also said that it was important to have better connections with Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, which are all big towns in India. Setting up dependable air links to these business hubs is seen as very important for East Kutch's economic health.
