Thiruvananthapuram: Out of the seven international airports that registered profit in the country in the last fiscal, three were from Kerala which has the highest number of international airports. And the state is set to add another feather to its cap with the opening of its fourth international airport – Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL), by the second week of December. Further, with another international airport in the pipeline at Sabarimala and over half-a-dozen airstrip projects on the anvil, the state is all poised to scale new heights in the aviation trajectory.
But the sector requires projects with far-sighted vision and investment to aid the growth or sustain the momentum especially in the backdrop of the turbulence in the Middle East economy, which is the mainstay of the state. The oil-based economy of the Middle East countries has a major role in fuelling the state’s economy in general and the aviation sector in particular. But this too is being subjected to rapid changes and if the present trends are any indication, domestic pax will overshadow the international pax volume shortly.
Though Kerala has long been a favourite destination of international airlines and the growth of international pax was much higher than the domestic passengers when it was vice-versa in the rest of the country, the state has surpassed the national growth rate of domestic aviation sector, touching a cumulative 25.34 per cent in 2017 against the national average of 23.1 in 2016.
In this backdrop, it will be interesting to look into whether the addition of another international airport will speed up the current growth of the aviation sector or will it hot up the serene skies over Kerala, where the highly competitive airlines explore ways to attract passengers. Although experts are divided over whether it would bring any immediate change, they are unanimous in saying competition is good and customers will be the beneficiaries.
However, it raises questions about whether the new airport will take away a major chunk of passengers from the neighbouring airports such as Calicut and Mangalore.
K Srinivasa Rao, director of Calicut Airport, said the airport authorities are anticipating a drop of 20-30 per cent of passengers in the beginning. “But we are hopeful of retrieving a major chunk of its business with the airport starting the operation of wide-bodied aircraft by the middle of December as Malappuram district, a portion of Palakkad, Kozhikode and Wayanad will be depending on Calicut airport even after the opening of the new airport. Further, the advent of Malabar as a major tourist destination will help the airport regain its supremacy as the major airport in Malabar,” he said.
A senior official with Air India Express said the airline company has conducted a market analysis before announcing around 10 flights to and from KIAL in a week. As per our analysis, there is still job creation in the Middle East market. For instance, around 10-20 travellers of AIE are still first-time visa holders. It means there is still employment generation in the Middle East, hinting that the market will be buoyant at least for the next few years. And it is obvious the priorities of the airlines will be changed if there is any unexpected slide or slump in the Middle East passenger traffic in the long-run, he said.
However, VJ Kurien, managing director of Cochin International Airport, said, “The market will soon witness a shift with domestic growth surpassing international pax growth. So, we are getting prepared to stay afloat in the market by introducing better amenities for domestic passengers on par with those for international travellers. In tune with the changing market dynamics, the state government should also bring in more investment in the tourism and allied sectors which is essential for the growth of the aviation sector in a state like Kerala,” he said.
25/11/18 Dhinesh Kallungal/New Indian Express
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
But the sector requires projects with far-sighted vision and investment to aid the growth or sustain the momentum especially in the backdrop of the turbulence in the Middle East economy, which is the mainstay of the state. The oil-based economy of the Middle East countries has a major role in fuelling the state’s economy in general and the aviation sector in particular. But this too is being subjected to rapid changes and if the present trends are any indication, domestic pax will overshadow the international pax volume shortly.
Though Kerala has long been a favourite destination of international airlines and the growth of international pax was much higher than the domestic passengers when it was vice-versa in the rest of the country, the state has surpassed the national growth rate of domestic aviation sector, touching a cumulative 25.34 per cent in 2017 against the national average of 23.1 in 2016.
In this backdrop, it will be interesting to look into whether the addition of another international airport will speed up the current growth of the aviation sector or will it hot up the serene skies over Kerala, where the highly competitive airlines explore ways to attract passengers. Although experts are divided over whether it would bring any immediate change, they are unanimous in saying competition is good and customers will be the beneficiaries.
However, it raises questions about whether the new airport will take away a major chunk of passengers from the neighbouring airports such as Calicut and Mangalore.
K Srinivasa Rao, director of Calicut Airport, said the airport authorities are anticipating a drop of 20-30 per cent of passengers in the beginning. “But we are hopeful of retrieving a major chunk of its business with the airport starting the operation of wide-bodied aircraft by the middle of December as Malappuram district, a portion of Palakkad, Kozhikode and Wayanad will be depending on Calicut airport even after the opening of the new airport. Further, the advent of Malabar as a major tourist destination will help the airport regain its supremacy as the major airport in Malabar,” he said.
A senior official with Air India Express said the airline company has conducted a market analysis before announcing around 10 flights to and from KIAL in a week. As per our analysis, there is still job creation in the Middle East market. For instance, around 10-20 travellers of AIE are still first-time visa holders. It means there is still employment generation in the Middle East, hinting that the market will be buoyant at least for the next few years. And it is obvious the priorities of the airlines will be changed if there is any unexpected slide or slump in the Middle East passenger traffic in the long-run, he said.
However, VJ Kurien, managing director of Cochin International Airport, said, “The market will soon witness a shift with domestic growth surpassing international pax growth. So, we are getting prepared to stay afloat in the market by introducing better amenities for domestic passengers on par with those for international travellers. In tune with the changing market dynamics, the state government should also bring in more investment in the tourism and allied sectors which is essential for the growth of the aviation sector in a state like Kerala,” he said.
25/11/18 Dhinesh Kallungal/New Indian Express
0 comments:
Post a Comment