Mangalore Airport: Scary but Awesome

Mangalore Airport is still in the memory of many for the worst accident that happened a year ago. Many of you know that it is a table top airport. It is situated at the top of the hill surrounded by the greenery, adjacent to the river, one can add it into ‘the must’ list.

The airport is about 20 km from Mangalore city. The best way to reach the airport is to hire a city taxi. The cost of the taxi will be based on your bargaining capacity. There is easy availability of the taxi from the airport and airport. If you don’t have much luggage to carry with you, you can reach through buses which go to Bajpe or Kateel. There are plenty of buses in this rout. You can get down at Kenjaru, from where the airport is at walk able distance and also autos available. From Kenjaru main road to airport, the hairpin curves will give the thrill of reaching one of the table top airports in the world.

It was the bright sunny day when I had been there. The visibility was very good. Sitting beside the window, I was able to see the hills at the long distances as soon as I boarded the flight. The flight started moving along the new run way. The flight was not taking up the speed for few minutes. I was little scared as taking off and landing are very crucial in case of table top airports. It can fall from the hill if it was not speeded up and taken off properly. I saw the rear right wheel taking u turn and started moving towards runway again. It took up the speed. The wheels left the ground and got covered inside. I was just looking at the ground, the ground was very nearer. Within seconds it was at the end of the runway, needless to tell it was the end of the hill. The flight was at the hundreds of meters from the ground. It took a turn flying over the river. I was flying on the coconut gardens. Saw the river kissing the Arabian Sea in the green background. Small islands formed in the river were looking like green dots in the big greenish blue line.

The flight fled along the seashore. It started flying on the Western Ghats. The range of green hills at the Kuduremukh Reserve Forest was like the beautiful design drawn by the creator. The Sahyadri hill series was an odyssey of the fully dark green forest and the wide lands of brownish grass. These hills one attached to another were looking like they are sitting holding one’s hand another. This was an memorable experience.

I can just say flying from Mangalore International Airport is more worth than the scare one can experience after the 2010 mishap.