KOCHI: Even as various West Asia countries reduce spending to cope with low oil prices leading to more job cuts, which hit the Keralites badly as they account for half of the total Indian diaspora there, various airline companies operating between Kerala and West Asia are shifting their attention to South Asian countries to stay afloat in the competitive sector. The Kochi headquartered Air India Express, which was formed to cater to Keralites across Gulf nations, has started two new services connecting Singapore and Dhaka with various south Indian cities. Besides, the airline services to destinations like Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok and Colombo from Kochi have almost tripled from those of three years ago.
According to the authorities of Cochin International Airport, the main transit hub from Kerala to various Far East destinations, there are around 60 flights to various South East Asian destinations and Colombo from Kochi per week, whereas it was only a handful of services to these destinations from Kochi a couple of years ago.
Traffic to these destinations shows a steady and robust growth over the years and companies like Air Asia Berhad, Malindo Air, Silk Air, Sri Lankan Air, Tiger Airways and Thai Air Asia reap the benefits, they said. A senior official attached to Air Indian Express, which operates around 235 services to Gulf Countries from various cities in the country and especially from Kerala, told ‘Express’ that traffic to Far East destinations is showing a steady growth from the south Indian cities and the Air India Express has started a Chennai-Singapore flight (four days in a week) and another Kolkata-Singapore-Dhaka flight (four times a week).
The AIE has already a daily flight to Trichy-Singapore flight and another Tichy- Chennai-Kuala Lumpur flight (four times a week). “It seems that we have to tap the potential of other routes as well in order to stay afloat in the market as the traffic to various Middle East destinations is getting saturated and there would be a slump in the market if the other West Asia Countries go for Emiratisation,” he said. ‘’It is a fact that there is some crisis in the West Asia countries. But the recent traffic flow to Far East destination is mainly because of the thriving tourism markets in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Tourists can relish the luxuries of these destinations if they are ready to spend a sum of Rs 30,000-35,000 for a fiveday trip, whereas one has to spend anywhere between Rs 8,000 -15,000 to get a ticket to Delhi or vice versa from Kerala. Charges for accommodation, food and other amenities are extra. That is why the traffic to these destinations is showing a steady growth over the years,” Biji Eapen, national president, IATA Agents Association of India, said. Demonetisation has affected the airline companies to some extent.
But once the market becomes steady, the traffic flow to various destinations would be multiplied. The Thai AirAsia has alone carried about 35,000 guests from Kochi to Bangkok since its launch in this year to till this August and the airline company took a total of over 260,000 guests from India to Thailand from 2014 till August, said the spokesperson of the Thai AirAsia.