Tichy: Traders involved in export businesses have expressed surprise as to why Trichy is neglected time and again by the national carrier, the Air India Express. Around 20 years ago, the erstwhile Indian Airlines operated a daily service from Trichy to Colombo and now when there is tremendous growth potential in the region, the Air India Express does not give connectivity to Colombo at all, whereas Sri Lankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka together operate 18 services a week to Colombo.
An Air India Express source in Trichy said the national carrier connects three airports - Thiruvanathapuram, Cochin and Kozhikode - from neighbouring Kerala to the Gulf daily, but it cancelled the only flight to Abu Dhabi from Trichy in October last year. In November, 2011, the Air India Express had cancelled nine flights to Kuala Lumpur and Chennai due to crew constraints and inevitable reasons.
01/04/13 Dennis Selvan/Times of India
