THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though a direct flight between Tokyo and Thiruvananthapuram continues to be elusive, the chances are high for the state to get a connecting flight to Tokyo from the capital city, giving the investors from Far East especially, Japan, reasons to cheer. According to sources, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has agreed to call a meeting exclusively to discuss the matters related to the Trivandrum International Airport in the first week of August possibly by August 3.
The meeting will discuss the possibility of starting a connection flight to Tokyo via either Singapore or Bangkok, along with other matters related to the development of Trivandrum International airport. Earlier, Express had reported that officials of Nissan Motor of Japan, which has a digital innovation hub in Thiruvananthapuram, along with other companies from the region, were anxious over the decision of SilkAir to stop its service from the capital to Singapore and give the slot to its budget airline Scoot.
Since the company officials preferred business class to travel between the cities, the decision to hand over the service to Scoot had disappointed the investors from Far East like Fujitsu and Hitachi which have been looking to invest in Kerala. Following this, the state government had written to Air India managing director requesting to start a direct flight between Tokyo and Thiruvananthapuram.
However, the chances of Air India starting a service to Tokyo from here is remote in the current scenario especially with the Centre looking to disinvest in the national carrier and its subsidiaries. But the state is seriously exploring ways to start a connection flight to Tokyo after consulting with Sri Lankan airlines which holds service to Colombo from here and it has business class seats.
“It can be worked out as there is a steady flow of passengers to destinations like Thailand and Singapore from Kerala and other south Indian cities with daily flights. So a flight service to Tokyo from Thiruvananthapuram with a stopover at either Bangkok or Singapore can help the airline company meet its required pax strength and can cater to the business class community from here as well. The meeting to be held after the Parliament session will also look at ways to increase the domestic and international service from the Trivandrum airport as it is very important in bringing investment to the state,” said officials.
Nissan stands by MoU
T’Puram : Following reports that global auto major Nissan, which set up a digital innovation hub in Thiruvananthapuram, has accused the state government of failing to deliver on the promise given to the firm when it was invited to the state, Nissan has issued a release saying the company is committed to its MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Government of Kerala for establishing a world-class digital transformation hub in the state. “As any routine review process, we work with our partners and the government. We are confident that our strong partnership with the government will help us lead the way forward,” it said.