Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

First chartered flight to arrive on November 2

Thiruvananthapuram: The first chartered flight with 258 tourists from the United Kingdom will touch down at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on November 2 to kick off another peak tourist season in ‘God’s Own Country.’

Although Kerala is touted as a 365-day destination, the arrival of the first chartered flight carrying U.K. tourists heralds the four-month peak tourist season commencing in November in Kerala. The famed Light House, Eve’s and Samudra beaches of Kovalam will turn lively as the majority of the tourists will be staying at the resort.

As many as 258 upmarket tourists will arrive by the first flight of First Choice that will touch down at the airport here at 4.30 a.m. The tourists in the 50-80 years age group are coming through the U. K-based ‘First choice’ and the ground handling will be taken care of by SITA. The direct flight from Gatwick will come every fortnight on Saturday till May 2008.

“All the seats in the first flight have been sold out and the response to the other flights is encouraging. The high-spending tourists will stay at upmarket hotels in and around Kovalam,” a spokesman of the company told The Hindu

Of the tourists arriving by the first flight to the city, 70 per cent have opted for the 14-night package and the remaining for the 6-night round tour package covering Kumarakom, Thekkady, Munnar, Kochi and a cruise in the houseboats.

The second chartered flight being operated by ‘My Travel” with 340 U.K. tourists will arrive at the international airport here at 5.25 p.m. on November 3. The non-stop flight is being operated from Gatwick airport jointly by three brands — Thomas Cook, My Travel and Manos — of Thomas Cook (UK).

The chartered flight carrying the tourists from the U. K will arrive here every Saturday till April. The last flight to Gatwick airport will be on April 18. The ground handling of the tourists coming by the My Travel flight will be by Thomas Cook (India).

The first stopover of the tourists will be at Kovalam. The tourists are being offered three-day/four-nights Essence of Kerala package and the seven-days eight-nights package.

“The response to the tour is really good and fears of any epidemic have not affected the operations. The profile of the chartered tourist arriving in the State has gone up one step further,” according to Senior Manager, Leisure Travel (Inbound) Thomas Cook, Sadiq Farook.

Another chartered flight from Sweden is also scheduled to arrive here at 9.30 p.m. on November 5. The 270 Swedish tourists in the first flight from Sweden after 11 years are being brought by ‘Sol Resor’ and the ground handling is done by Go India Holidays.

The flight will operate every Monday till April end. “The tourists from Sweden are mainly in the middle and upmarket category. We have entered into a contract with the Swedish company for three years,” says Director Varghese Oommen.

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