Amidst crunch days Kerala shines for AI

Thiruvananthapuram: The ongoing lean tourist season has led to lower passenger numbers, ATF prices continue to rule high and the global slowdown
has affected all airlines, but amidst the gloom, beleaguered national carrier Air India is seeing some silver lining in Kerala.
Thanks to a strong showing by the Air India Express (AIE) flights, Kerala operations have put in an encouraging performance for Air India in recent months, and the upcoming school vacations in Gulf countries promise the regular annual July-August windfall for the airline once again.
Air India Express has 45 international flights a week from Kozhikode, 37 from Kochi and 24 from Thiruvananthapuram, making it easily the largest AIE operation in the country. Air India officials said the AIE operations have been popular with international passengers from here and that July-August would see high occupancies as schools closed for vacations in Gulf countries leading to inbound traffic now and outbound two months later.
Officials said AIE operations were doing well in the state throughout the year with average passenger loads of 85% that went up to 99% during peak times like the school vacation time in Gulf countries. However, the airline is not planning any additional flight in the Kerala-Gulf sector this season, which officials say is a pointer to the capacity increase in the sector in recent years.
01/07/09 Joe A Scaria/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, NACIL Jul 2009