Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Oct 11, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Oct 11, 2005 |
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Airlines Air India Express to increase flights Ashwini Phadnis
New Delhi , Oct. 10 AIR India Express, the low-cost airline of Air India, will soon increase the number of flights it operates, the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, Mr V. Thulasidas, has said. "We are planning to increase flights to Sharjah and Dubai. We are looking to connect Sharjah with Calicut and then with Kochi also," Mr Thulasidas told Business Line. The airline is also looking to operate on the Thiruvananthapuram Dubai sector. By April, the airline plans to more than double its fleet to seven, by inducting four more Boeing 737 aircraft. The aircraft are likely to be used to operate a daily flight from Chennai to both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Flights between India and the Gulf region will be increased. The airline operates a single class Boeing 737 aircraft and offers fares up to 25 per cent less than full service airlines. The airline took to the skies earlier this year. Contrary to popular belief, the airline has been performing very well on the Kerala-Gulf route. "We have not cancelled a single flight between Kerala and Gulf. In fact, these flights have been doing very well and have an average load factor of 94 per cent," Mr Thulasidas said. To expand its route network and operate more flights on existing sectors, the airline recently recruited more foreign pilots on a contractual basis. The airline proposal for purchase of 18 Boeing 737-800 W aircraft is pending with the Government and is likely to be considered by the Public Investment Board later this month. The airline has started price negotiations with US-based aircraft manufacturers to expedite the purchase. The acquired aircraft will replace the leased one with which the airline started operations.
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