Air Kerala to launch domestic services this year

Air Kerala, a subsidiary the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) launched nine years ago to operate low-cost flights on the Gulf sector, will finally take off this year as a domestic carrier.
A CIAL official said its board of directors cleared the proposal at its recent meeting and the officials are now working out the details.
It has also started negotiations on aircraft acquisition.
The state government has been lobbying for waivers from federal aviation authorities on mandatory five years of domestic flying experience and a fleet size of 20 aircraft before flying overseas.
“We decided to end the long wait for the federal authorities to extend the waivers and explore the existing route taking a small step forward,” said P. S. Jayan, the company’s senior manager for corporate communications.
The CIAL, which operates India’s first corporate airport, is promoted mainly by expatriates from the Gulf countries with the state government as a minority stakeholder.
“If the government changes its mind and lifts the preconditions, well, we’d launch international services forthwith. Our priority is the Gulf sector”.
Initially, Air Kerala will provide connectivity to Mangalore, Calicut, Trivandrum, Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy as well as the upcoming Kannur airport, the state’s fourth international airport which is expected to be operational in 18 months, with Cochin as its hub.
The idea is to purchase or take on lease a 15-seater aircraft to connect these cities.
The state government has also made an assurance to purchase a portion of tickets regularly for ministers and bureaucrats currently flying on other airlines to avoid the state’s notoriously rickety roads.
The authorities hope to attract a lot of Gulf-bound passengers from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states providing connectivity to smaller cities. As the demand rises, the fleet size too can increase with additions of more destinations.
“We are now India’s fourth largest airport in terms of international passengers thanks to the Gulf-bound expatriates. There are 45 weekly flights from Cochin to Dubai alone. This is a huge advantage for us,” he said.
“Connectivity to smaller airports for Gulf-bound workers makes business sense”.
Though Oommen Chandy had taken up the issue at the highest level, including the prime minister, since 2005 from his earlier term as chief minister, the promise of exemptions was confronted by the loss-making public sector behemoth Air India.
The flag carrier launched its no-frills subsidiary Air India Express to pacify the state, also shifting its headquarters to Kochi for a short while, but Kerala and the Gulf remained a lucrative sector for the airline.
Though the new aviation minister spoke of lifting the conditions for new international airlines, the draft aviation policy of the Modi dispensation is silent on the 5/20 conditions. It also excluded Kochi from the list of five aviation hubs it plans.
The CIAL authorities say its non-resident investors were pitching for an international airline with Cochin as its home airport for long. One of its directors also resigned from the Air India board to concentrate on its own airline.
They hope to mobilize at least half a million small investors and a captive clientele for the subsidiary in which the CIAL will hold 26 percent stake.