Air-India Express to shift base to Kerala

Kochi: Air-India has decided to shift the headquarters of its no-frills arm, AI Express, from Mumbai to Kerala because the majority of its flights operate out of the four international airports of Thiruvananthapuram, Nedumbassery, Karipur and Mangalore.
The AI board meeting in New Delhi yesterday also decided to have its next session in Kochi on November 12, taking into account mounting problems of travellers using the international airports in the State. Station directors of all the four airports would attend the meeting.
At the board meeting held in New Delhi today, five out of the nine directors backed Dubai-based businessman M K Yusuf Ali’s proposal to shift the AIE headquarters to Thiruvananthapuram. The board would soon approach the Federal Government to get its nod for the proposal.
Out of the 250-odd AI express flights, nearly 180 were operating out of the four airports, said Yusuf Ali in Delhi, citing the rationale for the shifting the AIE HQ.
Following talks in Kochi recently, AI chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav had said the airline not only planned to send its senior executive to Kerala to ensure that flights were operated but also planned to station one spare aircraft at Karipur and Kozhikode to maintain the schedule.
29/09/10 John Mary/The Peninsula, Qatar

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