Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TIAL) has offered refuelling facilities to at least 101 flights operating from and to Sri Lanka since May 27, after the island nation plunged into an internal crisis. National carrier SriLankan, flydubai, Air Arabia, Oman Air and Gulf Air are among the foreign liners whose request for refuelling facilities was accepted by the airport controlled by the Adani group, , a spokesperson told BusinessLine. Indian Oil and BPCL are the main suppliers of ATF at the international airport.

Geographical proximity

At least 65 SriLankan flights have made use of the refuelling opportunity at TIAL, besides 11 from flydubai; 10 from Air Arabia; nine from Oman Air; and six from Gulf Air, the spokesman said. Though it was not TIAL’s intention to find a commercial opportunity in the internal troubles of the neighbouring country, Kerala stands to benefit in terms of revenue from the operation. A330 aircraft belonging to SriLankan and operating on the Colombo-Melbourne, Colombo-Sydney, Colombo-Frankfurt and Colombo-Paris routes are the largest aircraft types flying in for refuelling. SriLankan flights operating to Colombo and back fill themselves to the brim for the short haul, but use the rest to fly domestic sorties, the spokesman said quoting ATF suppliers.

Sets up separate refuelling bay

TIAL has been hosting these flights despite space constraints, especially since most of them crowd in during the peak traffic hours from midnight to 6 am. TIAL has since arranged a separate refuelling bay, while ensuring its own summer schedule and regular night flights operate without trouble. Some spill-over traffic is being directed to Cochin International Airport (CIAL) 200 km further North as the crow flies. CIAL is known to have promptly responded, offering a discount considering the additional flying distance, the spokesman added.

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