KOCHI: Bringing cheers to the expat community, Air India has decided to operate three flights a week in the Kochi-London sector from August 22. Air India had on August 7 announced the launch of the London Heathrow-Kochi service from August 18. Considering the positive response from the expat community, the national carrier decided to increase the frequency of services to London.
As per the current schedule, Air India will launch the service to London Heathrow airport on August 18. Flight number AI 150/149 will arrive in Kochi at 03.45 am on Wednesday and depart at 05.50 am for Heathrow. Two more services will be launched from August 22 raising the total weekly operations to three.
The new schedule will stimulate the aviation as well as tourism sectors, said Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) managing director S Suhas. "This is the highest number of flight services that have been scheduled in this sector in the history of CIAL. It will provide a shot in the arm for the efforts taken by the state government and CIAL to establish frequent connectivity to Europe,” he said.
As per the new schedule, Air India will operate services to London on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The flight will take 10 hours to reach the destination. CIAL has waived parking and landing fees for airlines operating in the European sector as part of its persistent effort to improve global connectivity.
As the United Kingdom has included India in the Amber list, passengers have to undergo three Covid tests. The first should be taken three days prior to departure and the second on the day of arrival or before Day 2. The third test should be taken on or after Day 8. Home quarantine for 10 days is mandatory on arrival in the UK. For UK nationals who are fully vaccinated, neither quarantine nor the Day 8 test is required. People who have been fully vaccinated in the United States or European countries will not need to quarantine.