Date:08/06/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/06/08/stories/2005060805300500.htm

Kerala

Air-India completes six years in Kochi

A Correspondent

NEDUMBASSERY: Air-India will complete its sixth year of operations from the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery on Friday.

Air-India operated its first ever flight from Kochi, the first green field airport in the country, on June 10, 1999, to Dammam. This was also the first aircraft to take off from the airport which started functioning the same year.

Sources said that Air-India was considering the prospects of launching a service from Kochi to London. As there are apprehensions about the occupancy percentage of a direct flight between Kochi and London, talks are on on routing it via another South Indian destination.

Air-India is the sole ground-handling agent here. Twelve airlines, including international and domestic ones, operate from the airport and Air-India currently provides ground-handling facilities for 175 flights a week.

During the initial stage, Air-India operated 10 weekly services from Kochi, all to the Gulf sector. This was gradually increased to 31 services a week. With the budget airline concept taking deep roots in the country, Air-India launched its no-frills subsidiary Air-India Express on April 29, 2005, from the three airports in Kerala.

The Kochi airport is turning out to be an important cog in the functioning of the Air-India Express (AIE), which is being launched in a phased manner. Proposals are there for setting up a twin bay hangar of the AIE at Kochi airport.

With the advent of the AIE, Air-India ceased operating services to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat from Kochi. The AIE currently operates 12 services a week from here. By February 2006, during the third phase of the AIE, services to Bahrain and Doha will also be taken over by the AIE.

However, Air-India's services to Saudi Arabian destinations will prevail. Besides this, Air-India will continue to operate its Mumbai service from Kochi offering `through check-in' facility for passengers bound for American and European destinations. The Kochi airport is unlikely to lose its importance in Air-India's scheme of things in future with a similar green field airport being planned in the neighbouring Bangalore, a senior Air-India official said. According to him, Kochi and Bangalore cater to entirely different markets. While traffic from Kochi is predominantly Gulf-centric, Bangalore known for its Information Technology infrastructure will attract more passengers to the western destinations, he said.