Air India leaves Tiruchy skies open for private operators

Air India Express operates its last flight to Chennai from Tiruchy on February 14; cites operational restraints as reason for withdrawal from the route
An Air India Express flight at the Tiruchy International Airport | M K Ashok Kumar
An Air India Express flight at the Tiruchy International Airport | M K Ashok Kumar

TIRUCHY : At a time when private players are gearing up to tap the potential of the Tiruchy-Chennai sector, the decision by State-owned operator Air India Express to wind up operations to the State capital has left fliers flummoxed. Having operated in the sector for over eight years, Air India Express announced last week that it was winding up the domestic service and cited operational restraints as the reason. 


Air India Express operated its last flight to Chennai from Tiruchy on February 14, flying with 30 passengers, and will henceforth have services only to Singapore. 


Considered the cheapest airline among the ones operating in the sector, the cancellation of services to Chennai has put flyers in discomfort. Several passengers who spoke to Express expressed concern that the decision would pave way for private carriers. 


The announcement by Air India Express will directly help Jet Airways and the soon-to-be-launched  Air Carnival. Jet Airways operates three services to Chennai a day with tickets rates in  `4,500-`5,000 range, whereas Air Carnival would offer tickets at `1,499 as introductory fares. 


Air India Express used to service Malaysia, which was eventually extended to Singapore with a touchdown in Chennai. Now, even the Malaysia flight has been scrapped, leaving the doors open for Air Asia and Malindo Air, which have at least six services on a daily basis with full capacity.


A senior official with Air India said, “Air India Express was managing the Chennai service by connecting Malaysia, Singapore, Chennai and Tiruchy with a single aircraft flying for almost six hours.” 


Habeeb Ubaidullah, an independent aviation analyst, said while other airlines were operating to Chennai using smaller aircraft, Air India Express was using Boeing 737-800 series, having capacity of 186 seats. This would have led to fuel losses, during take-off and landing. All such factors make the service commercially unviable, especially  when the occupancy rate is poor.” 


“We were expecting Air India Express to operate a morning and evening flight in the Tiruchy- Chennai sector with a option of two stage economical fare. Business travellers and others are shocked to know that the service has been withdrawn. It will be a boon to travellers if Air India Express could plan a smaller aircraft for Chennai-Tiruchy route,  one in the morning and one in the evening,”said S A Mubashir, Joint Secretary, Tiruchy Travel Federation.


Even as the cancellation of the Chennai service has drawn flak, several flyers lauded Air India Express for its efforts to connect Tiruchy to Thiruvananthapuram and for operating a direct flight  to Singapore.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com