The Hindu Business Line : Emirates to launch flights from Kozhikode in July

Ahmedabad, April 4 The Dubai-based Emirates Airline, which recently announced an increase in the number of its flights from 99 to 108 per week at nine destinations in India, is adding Kozhikode on its map in July and focusing on more business class facilities.

It will launch six flights a week to Kozhikode — its tenth Indian gateway — from 1 July. “Emirates is also poised to cater to the increased movement of business class travellers, VFR (visiting friends and relatives) and leisure travellers”, an Airlines spokesman told Business Line here.

The aviation sector in India is witnessing phenomenal growth. As IT and BPO sectors trigger growth in tier II cities and as their airports gain international status, business air travel in India’s tier II cities is headed for a major boom, he said. Asked about the connectivity Emirates offers between the East and West, he said there is a strong and growing demand for convenient air travel between Europe, the US and cities in the Indian sub-continent, as illustrated by the success of Emirates’ services to US, Germany, UK, France and Italy, due to the Airline’s seamless connectivity.

The growth in the Indo-US travel market is quite robust at 25-30 per cent per annum. A majority of this traffic is business, while leisure comprising VFR and tourist traffic is also an important component.

This sector registered a 45 per cent growth in the first four months of 2007. Emirates connects all its nine existing Indian gateways to New York via Dubai.

Last week, Emirates unveiled plans to introduce double-daily services to New Delhi and boost its Ahmedabad operation with two additional flights per week, bringing its total frequency on the India routes to108 weekly flights. Effective March 30, the carrier added one flight every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday to its existing daily service to New Delhi. In the next phase of expansion starting July 2, another three flights — one every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday — will be added to the route. The additional flights will be operated by Boeing 777-200 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft in three-class configurations.

The extra frequencies will inject over 1,800 seats and more than 120 tonnes of cargo capacity per week per direction and considerably boost capacity on the high-demand route. Beginning March 30, Emirates also added two weekly flights to Ahmedabad, its most recent gateway in India, taking its total frequency on the route to eight flights per week. The airline will operate the additional services with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft in two- and three-class configurations.

More Stories on : Airlines | New Products & Services

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Emirates to launch flights from Kozhikode in July

‘Air navigation services need a paradigm shift’

AI daily flight to Vizag

Major ports handle 12% more cargo in 2007-08

Chennai port handles 57 mt cargo in 2007-08

Officers shortage hits shipping industry