JEDDAH, 26 January 2006 — Emirates Airlines will begin offering eight flights per week starting Feb. 1 between Dubai and the Indian city of Trivandrum, the capital of India’s southern state of Kerala. The airline is targeting with its increased flights the main three economic sectors in Kerala: leisure tourism, health tourism and the IT sector. The airline is trying to make the Indian state more reachable to businessmen in the Middle East.
“Through Emirates’ services our business, IT, tourism and air freight industries will have access to new markets and greater opportunities,” said M.R. Nararyanan, president of Trivandrum’s Chamber of Commerce. Tourism inflows are expected to increase as Emirates service opens up Trivandrum to the affluent Middle East traveler. Currently the city is visited by 900,000 tourists per year with a growth rate of 5.5 percent per annum.
V.K. Mathews, chairman of International Business Solutions (IBS), Techno-park, said he believes that Trivandrum’s growing IT industry “can take advantage of Emirates’ 13-destination network in the Middle East to find new markets for their local products and services.” “Emirates’ air transport links to Trivandrum will render it an attractive destination for international IT companies considering setting up offices in South India,” he added.