Business Standard

Intl airlines plan operations from Coimbatore airport

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Gayathri G Chennai/ Coimbatore
With increased passenger traffic and aircraft movement, Coimbatore airport is becoming a favourite spot for international flight operators such as SilkAir, Malaysian Airlines and Air India to start their operations.
 
Industry sources say that SilkAir, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, had completed a feasibility study on operating its flights out of Coimbatore airport, a few months ago.
 
At present, SilkAir flies to the neighbouring Cochin International Airport and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
 
"Considering the huge outflow of passengers from the region to South East Asian nations such as China and Singapore for textile related business activities, SilkAir may introduce its services at Coimbatore airport," according to sources.
 
Similarly, a year ago, Air India also did a study on the Coimbatore airport to start its operations. But the proposal has been put on the back burner for unknown reasons.
 
Speaking to Business Standard, Jaikumar Ramadass, chairman, CII, Coimbatore zone, said that international airlines such as Malaysian Airlines and others were making enquiries about the infrastructural facilities at the airport. "By the end of 2008, we expect at least three international airlines to operate out of the airport," he added.
 
Available data indicate that of the total 65,000 passengers that the airport handled last year, more than 35,000 were home-bound travellers. "Though the inflow is from different places, the domestic outflow is mainly to Chennai. The international outflow is mainly to the Gulf nations and China," sources added.
 
Of the 30,000 outward-bound passengers, 60 per cent of the traffic is on the Coimbatore-Chennai and Coimbatore-Bangalore routes. Internationally, the outflow is higher to the Gulf nations, especially Sharjhah, thanks to the huge density of Malayali population in the region.
 
Passenger traffic to South-east countries like China and Singapore is also gaining momentum, especially in the post quota regime, after January 2005, for importing textile machinery and placing orders for spindles.
 
In order to attract more airlines as well as passengers, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has installed an interactive voice response System (IVRS) facility at a cost of around Rs 2.34 lakh at the airport, which will give all flight-related information and phone numbers of all airlines operating here.
 
The airport became the first in the country to have a comprehensive IVRS facility installed by the AAI. In other airports, each airlines operate independent IVRS facility for providing information relating to flights
 
To keep pace with the soaring rate of passenger movement at the airport in the last two years, the AAI had embarked on a mission to bring in more passenger amenities, according to C Vijayakumar, airport director.
 
At present, five airlines (Indian, GoAir, Deccan Airlines, Jet and Paramount) are operating from the airport, with services to Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kozhikode and Mumbai, besides a freighter service to Sri Lanka.
 
The airport registered an annual turnover of Rs 3 crore last fiscal and expects at least a 30 per cent increase this fiscal year, Vijayakumar said.

 
 

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First Published: Jun 08 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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