Air India Express starts direct Gulf-T'puram flight

Air India Express, the low-cost carrier, started its summer schedule to the Gulf destinations on Monday. A notable feature in the new schedule is the delinking of Thiruvananthapuram from Kochi and Kozhikode.

As per the new schedule, the airline would fly to various destinations in the West Asia directly from Thiruvananthapuram, said HA Munaff, manager, Air India - Thiruvananthapuram.

The delinking of Thiruvananthapuram from Kochi and Kozhikode means that Air India Express flights will see an increase in the number of seats by 2,220 per week on its flights to the West Asia from the three airports in Kerala.

"The total number of seats on the low-cost carrier flights from Thiruvananthapuram will go up from 1,530 seats weekly to 2,395, up 56 per cent. This will make Air India Express the single largest international carrier operating from the Thiruvananthapuram airport." Following the delinking, Kozhikode will have an additional 900 seats, up from 5,705. Kochi, meanwhile, will see an increase of 455 seats.

Passengers from Thiruvananthapuram would benefit from this new schedule as they would see a two-hour reduction in flying time, Munaff added.