The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Maldivian carrier to start flights to city from Friday

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Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Maldivian carrier to start flights to city from Friday

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Island Aviation Services Ltd (IAS), the national carrier of the Maldives, will start daily flights from Male international airport to Thiruvananthapuram international airport from January 25.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Tuesday, Managing Director of IAS Bandhu I. Saleem said it will also be the first international flight from the Maldives of the airline, which is owned by the Government of Maldives.

The airline, which mainly operates inter-island services in the Maldives, will be deploying a 50-seater Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft for the daily operations. The Q2 700 flight from Male will depart at 3.30 p.m. to reach Thiruvananthapuram at 5.40 p.m. In the return, the Q2 701 flight will depart at 6.10 p.m. to reach Male at 7.20 p.m.

The 417 nautical miles between Thiruvananthapuram international airport and Male international airport will be covered within one hour and 20 minutes.

The airline has appointed Spencer’s Travel Services Ltd (STSL) as the General Sales Agent of the airline and V. Stanley Paulus as the Cargo Sales Agent in the city.

The airline has also come up special fares to coincide with the flight operations. The one way fare is Rs.4,468 and the fare for two-way is Rs.8,089. The two-way fare from different domestic airports in Maldives to the capital is in the range of $270 to $328. At present, the airline has no plans to operate services from the domestic airports to the State capital.

Mr. Saleem said the IAS services will be a big boost to the tourism sector of Kerala. Over 30,000 Maldivians visit the city for treatment, shopping and for educating the children.

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