Date:01/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/01/stories/2008070155750400.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Air India Express to fly to Kuwait from July 14

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: Air India Express, the no-frills airline of Air India, will commence operations to Kuwait from three cities in South India — Kozhikode, Kochi and Mangalore — from July 14.

The budget carrier will operate a daily flight for the passengers travelling from Calicut International Airport to Kuwait. The flight operations from Cochin International Airport will be thrice a week and it will be twice a week from Mangalore.

The flight operations to the new destination in the Gulf had been made possible with the induction of the 12th B737-800 aircraft into the fleet on June 24, according to airline sources.

With the flight operations to Kuwait, the number of international flight of Air India Express will increase to 150 in a week. The new aircraft has increased the fleet size of the Air India Express to 19, including seven leased aircraft.

Attractive designs of the country’s heritage have been a novel feature of Air India Express aircraft tails. The new aircraft VT-AXW also showcases two important landmarks of the country. While one side of the tail shows the 400-year old Charminar in Hyderabad, the other has a visual of the Buddha memorial at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh.

With convenient timings and economical pricing, Air India Express has positioned itself as airline of choice, particularly to the Gulf, says Station Manager H. A. Munaff.

The airline, which commenced operations from Kerala to Sharjah on April 29, 2005, operates flights between Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvanathapuram, Mumbai, Delhi, Amritsar, Mangalore, Chennai, Lucknow, Tiruchirapalli, Nagpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hyderabad and 12 foreign cities.

The 12 international destinations are Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, Muscat, Salalah, Bahrain, Doha, Singapore, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.