It appears that Kerala will have to pressurize the Center to get more direct flight connectivity from the state to Europe and the US, though the state has been seeking direct flight connectivity to destinations beyond West Asia and the Far East, citizens Kerala’s hopes of getting more direct flights to Europe and the US may dash Kerala’s hopes of getting more direct flights to and from Europe and the US with the aviation ministry’s policy limiting the status of points of call to six metro airports for foreign airlines from Europe and the US.
According to RK Singh, principal advisor to IndiGo’s managing director, the Center is not giving the right to foreign carriers from Europe and the US to serve non-metro airports in the country.
Recently during a summit of airlines in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr Singh said that the Kerala government will have to take up the matter with the Center if it really wants to bring about any change in the status quo.
The decision was taken to protect the interests of national carriers, which were affected by a significant imbalance in the number of points of call in favor of foreign carriers.
However, Indian designated carriers are free to mount scheduled operations to/from any international airport in the State within the scope of bilateral air service agreements concluded by India with foreign countries. Prior to the decision, designated airlines of the US and UK were entitled to operate to/from any point in India, including points in Kerala, in accordance with bilateral air services arrangements with these countries, although the actual operation by any airline has always been Guided by your commercial judgment.
Currently, Kerala has only one direct flight from Cochin International Airport to the UK and is operated by Air India thrice a week. According to Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) officials, the original designation data collected by it before the COVID-19 pandemic showed that around 800 passengers travel to different destinations in Europe every day. Officials said that in the post-COVID-19 scenario, around 80% of the traffic was back and there is increasing demand to make it a daily flight.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had banned cargo flights to six airports in the country by non-scheduled foreign operators in 2020, costing Kerala dearly, its export revenue by almost half compared to the pre-pandemic period. 40% has declined. ,