Madikeri: Land of coffee which took big strides in the area of tourism in the recent past is deprived of good transport facilities with no rail link and airport in the vicinity. The upcoming airport at Mattanur in Kerala which is rated as the biggest and the best in south India has suddenly revived the hopes of travel and export infrastructure starved district of Kodagu.
Kodagu district is adjacent to Kerala on one side and Hassan, Mysore and Dakshina Kannada districts on the other. With no rail link, people in the district have to travel either to Bengaluru or Mangaluru to board a train or an aircraft.
Kodagu having good links with Kerala in trade can reap the benefit of the new facility at Mattanur as it will increase the tourist inflow and enhance export of coffee and spices from the district.
The proposed airport at Mattanur in Kerala in an area covering 2000 acres at a cost of Rs 1892 crores,is likely to be operational in April 2016. The distance between Madikeri and Mattanur being 90 kms the new airport will help in solving long standing problems of the people in the district who were deprived of air travel.
