Resume Chennai-Tokyo Direct Flight Service: Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin to Centre

The Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet will be organised by the state government in January 2024. And, ahead of it, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has requested the Centre to re-introduce direct flights between Chennai and Tokyo, after he returned from his nine-day tour to Japan and Singapore.

He also requested that the frequency of flights between Singapore and Madurai be increased. CM Stalin, who was on a visit to Japan and Singapore to meet industrialists for next year’s Global Investors Meet, emphasised on the need for better connectivity between Tamil Nadu and Japan, in order to attract Japanese investors. .

In a letter addressed to Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Chief Minister pointed out that the Japan’s biggest airline, the All Nippon Airways that connected Chennai and Tokyo, had discontinued its services during the pandemic after less than 1 year of operating on the route.

In his letter, he said that due to the unavailability of direct flights between Tokyo and Chennai, the time taken to travel between the destinations takes 7 hours longer than the usual duration. CM Stalin also said that the Japanese business community in the state had repeatedly demanded the restoration of flights between the two destinations.

Three of the 12 industrial townships built in the country under the Japan-India Investment Promotion Partnership Programme are located in Tamil Nadu, he noted. “Over the last two decades, the influx of Japanese expatriates has slowly increased and I am happy to state that Chennai is home to the largest Japanese community in India,” CM Stalin added.

According to Stalin, there are almost 4 lakh individuals in Singapore who are of Tamil descent, and many of them come from Tamil Nadu’s southern regions to work there. The Chief Minister requested the Centre that at least one daily flight between Madurai and Singapore should be introduced soon.

“This issue of more flight services between Singapore and Madurai was raised by the minister for home affairs and law of the Government of Singapore, Thiru K Shanmugham when he met me. A similar request was also raised by many members of the Tamil diaspora in Singapore,” the letter addressed to Jyotiraditya Scindia read.

At present, several daily flights operate from Singapore to Chennai and Trichy, one daily flight to Coimbatore, and three weekly flights to Madurai.