Dubai: The Kerala Government is pressing ahead with a plan to materialise a popular demand to launch the state’s own airline — Air Kerala — after weighing the challenges currently faced by the global aviation sector, Ramesh Chennithala, the head of the state unit of the ruling Congress Party, said on Tuesday.
The President of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, or KPCC, stressing the need to have a prudent and pragmatic approach, said the airline project, “a long-nourished dream of every Gulf-based Non-Resident Keralite,” has to overcome several procedural and regulatory obstacles, including an eligibility criteria to operate on international sector, before its scheduled launch in April 2013.
Under the current Indian civil aviation authority’s rules, an airline can only fly international routes after completing five years of domestic service. There is also a stipulation that an airline operating internationally should have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet. Both these conditions have to be waived by the federal government to enable Air Kerala to commence Gulf flights immediately after its launch next year. Kerala’s Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has pledged to launch the airline on April 14, 2013 to coincide with Vishu, New Year’s Day in the Malayalam?calendar.
11/10/12 Khaleej Times
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The President of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, or KPCC, stressing the need to have a prudent and pragmatic approach, said the airline project, “a long-nourished dream of every Gulf-based Non-Resident Keralite,” has to overcome several procedural and regulatory obstacles, including an eligibility criteria to operate on international sector, before its scheduled launch in April 2013.
Under the current Indian civil aviation authority’s rules, an airline can only fly international routes after completing five years of domestic service. There is also a stipulation that an airline operating internationally should have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet. Both these conditions have to be waived by the federal government to enable Air Kerala to commence Gulf flights immediately after its launch next year. Kerala’s Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has pledged to launch the airline on April 14, 2013 to coincide with Vishu, New Year’s Day in the Malayalam?calendar.
11/10/12 Khaleej Times
