NEDUMBASSERY: Air Arabia, the national budget carrier of the United Arab Emirates, operated its maiden flight in the Sharjah-Kochi sector on Monday. The inaugural flight carrying a delegation led by Air Arabia CEO Adel Ali landed at the Cochin International Airport at 1.25 p.m. The chief guest and Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi inaugurated the function by lighting the traditional lamp.

Mr. Ravi expressed hope that the affordable and competitive fares offered by the budget carrier would enable Non-resident Keralites in West Asia to visit their homes more frequently. He expressed hope that the airline would begin its services from Kozhikode soon. The Union Minister said he would take up the matter with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

Mr. Ravi said the arrival of Air Arabia would lead to competition among airlines, leading to better services for passengers. He also urged the budget carrier to increase the frequency of services beyond the one daily service.

Mr. Ali, CEO of the airline, said it was a special day and expressed happiness on launching the service to Kerala on May 1, International Worker's Day. He thanked the Government of India and the Civil Aviation authorities for their support and cooperation. Mr. Ali said the Indian aviation industry had undergone a change and regarded the achievements over the last two years as "outstanding."

V.J. Kurian, Managing Director of Cochin International Airport, said that Air Arabia was the 18th airline to operate from Kochi.

He said almost all Middle East Airlines now operate from Kochi. He expressed hope that the budget carrier would provide competitive fares and would benefit to passengers from the Gulf.

To begin with the airline will operate four services a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. On these days, the flight is scheduled to depart from Sharjah at 10.20 p.m. and arrive in Kochi at 3.45 a.m. It will return from here at 4.30 a.m. and reach Sharjah at 7.10 a.m.

The airline is set to operate daily service from May 12 on a different time schedule, as per which the flight is scheduled to leave Sharjah at 1 p.m. and reach Kochi at 6.25 p.m. It will return at 7.10 p.m. from here and reach Sharjah at 9.50 p.m.

With the addition of Kochi, the airline now operates to three Indian destinations — the other two being Nagpur and Mumbai. The airline is set to add Jaipur to its list of Indian destinations soon, taking the total number of services to India to 28 a week.

The Air Arabia fleet consists of six A320 aircraft flying directly to destinations in Bahrain, Egypt, India, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Services to Kabul and Istanbul, the airline's first European destination, are in the pipeline.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail