SHARJAH, 21 February 2008 — Air Arabia, the first budget airline in the Gulf, yesterday announced plans to fly to the south Indian city of Calicut from Feb. 26.
Air Arabia will the first airline in the Middle East to launch flights to Kozhikode. Jet Airways, India’s private airline, started flights from Calicut to Muscat and Doha recently ending the monopoly of the state carriers on the Calicut-Gulf sector.
“We have decided to fly to Kozhikode but it is subject to final approval from Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) India,” A.K. Nizar, Air Arabia’s head of Commercial Department, told Arab News yesterday.
Round-trip flights will initially operate three times a week between Kozhikode and Sharjah. By the end of May, frequency will be increased to six times a week.
“We are pleased to announce the service to our newest destination in India. Air Arabia flights to Kozhikode will prove very popular among people from both sides and the increasing number of visitors who seek to explore this historical city on the Arabian Sea,” he added.
Kozhikode is Air Arabia’s tenth destination in India. Currently, the carrier provides daily service to other Kerala cities like Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
Several expatriate organizations in the Gulf were demanding more flights to Calicut that had seen the monopoly of two national carriers for a long time.
The Indian Civil Aviation Ministry had recently allowed private carrier Jet Airways to operate flights to Muscat and Doha in the wake of a series of agitations by Gulf passengers and political parties in the state.
There are indications Saudi Arabian airlines will also start flights to Calicut soon. According to a new aviation agreement between the Kingdom and India, Saudi airlines is to extend its operations to new Indian destinations, such as Calicut, Lucknow and Bangalore.
However, it is learned that the commencement of service by Air Arabia is not likely to result in an immediate drop in the fares since the airline is not planning to compete with national carriers Air-India and Indian.
