The first phase of upgradation of the airport is in its final stage and the airport is almost set for operating ATR charter flights. A terminal building with a capacity to accommodate 200 passengers will also be ready by 2009. Two runways measuring 1,740 metres and 1,350 metres are being built apart from a taxi way peripheral road and a boundary wall which has already been completed. The first flights are expected to begin in Summer 2009 with the core infrastructure ready. Meanwhile, a sanction has been already given for the Rs 140 crore civil and electrical works of the second phase of the project. The second phase will include upgradation of the airport with apron, setting up of air traffic control, meteorological department and upgrading the terminus. The airport will be able to operate Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 with a passenger capacity of more than 150.

History : The airstrip in Mysore was built in 1948. Its last burst of commercial activity was in the mid-1980s when Vayudoot ran a feeder service. The city had been on the aviation map more than five decades ago when a leading national newspaper used to drop its newspaper bundles using a Dakota. Thereafter, it was linked with the rest of the country through Vayudoot services. However, poor patronage had led to discontinuance of the services.