The Hindu : Kerala News : Air Arabia starts flights to Karipur

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Air Arabia starts flights to Karipur

Staff Reporter

To increase services to Kochi soon, says chief executive officer

Better connectivity: Air Arabia chief executive Adel Ali, who led a contingent of officials and mediapersons on the airline’s inaugural flight from Sharjah to Karipur on Tuesday, at the Calicut International Airport.

MALAPPURAM: Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia launched its operations from Calicut International Airport, Karipur, on Tuesday. The inaugural Air Arabia flight, an Airbus 320, touched down at Karipur at 5.40 p.m. carrying a contingent of officials and media from the Gulf.

The contingent was led by Adel Ali, board member and chief executive officer of Air Arabia. During a brief function at Karipur, Mr. Ali said the airline would expand its services to India. There will soon be two services a day to Kochi, he said.

“The launch of this regular service to Kozhikode underscores Air Arabia’s commitment to the burgeoning Indian market and Kerala,” he said. “We currently serve 10 destinations in India, three within Kerala. And we are keen on continuously providing the best value for money services to this emerging region.”

Air Arabia will operate three flights a week between Sharjah and Karipur. There will be services on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. This will be increased to six flights a week in three months.

Flights from Sharjah will arrive at Karipur at 1.40 p.m. and take off for Sharjah at 2.25 p.m. so as to land there at 5 p.m. local time. The Karipur-bound flight will leave Sharjah at 8.30 a.m.

The inaugural flight returned to Sharjah at 6.45 p.m. Mr. Ali inaugurated the function held at Karipur by cutting a cake together with P.V. Abdul Wahab, MP.

Air Arabia’s zonal head for India and Sri Lanka Rohit R. and Airport Director Chinson V.S. Panakkal addressed the gathering.

Air Arabia started operations to India with the launch of services to Mumbai in March 2005. The other two destinations that the airline serves in Kerala are Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. Air Arabia also flies to Ahmdedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Mumbai and Nagpur.

Air Arabia is a leading low-cost carrier in West Asia and North Africa. It began operations in October 2003 and currently has a fleet of 11 new Airbus A320 aircraft, serving 38 destinations across West Asia, North Africa, Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia through its main hub in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Air Arabia is modelled on leading American and European low-cost airlines.

Emirates flight

Staff Reporter writes from Thiruvananthapuram: Dubai-based international airline Emirates has announced commencement of six non-stop flights a week from Dubai to Kozhikode from July 1 to improve air connectivity between the northern part of the State and the Gulf countries.

With the commencement of services, Kozhikode will be Emirates’ third airport in the State and 10th destination in the country. The airline had commenced services to Nedumbassery Kochi six years ago and to Thiruvananthapuram international airport in 2006.

Emirates will initially operate Boeing 777-200 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft, offering over 4,000 business and economy class seats and close to 200 tonnes of cargo capacity per week in the sector.

Schedule

The flight EK 562 will depart on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from Dubai at 2.15 p.m. to arrive at Kozhikode at 7.50 p.m. In the return direction, the EK 563 will depart from Kozhikode at 9.20 p.m. to reach Dubai at 11.40 p.m.

On Thursdays and Saturdays the flight EK 560 will depart from Dubai at 3.30 a.m. to arrive at Kozhikode at 09.05 a.m. In the return direction, the EK 561will leave Kozhikode at 10.35 a.m. to arrive at Dubai at 12.55 noon on both these days.

According to chairman and chief executive Emirates Airline and Group Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, the non-stop air link between Dubai and Kozhikode will help increase trade opportunities and also make it more convenient for the non-resident Indian community in the Gulf to visit their families and friends.

“We intend to continue promoting the beautiful State of Kerala and to bring more international tourists here,” he said.

Emirates currently operates 99 weekly flights from Dubai to nine centres in India -- Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram.

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