Identifying large-scale operations in Kerala, the Air India is planning
huge investments for the expansion of Air India Express in the state. The state
is going to be the operational hub of Air India Express, said Anshert D’souza,
chief operating officer, in a meeting held on Wednesday.
“Air India Express which started in 2005 with just three flights
has a fleet of 21 aircraft today,” D’souza said. “Out of the 21 aircraft, 10
will be deployed exclusively for the Kerala operations, and three for
Mangalore” he said. With the 13 aircraft altogether, they hoped to operate 119
flights to the Gulf sector. The investment for the operation is around `3,600
crore, he said.
“There was a huge outcry from Kerala on the cancellation of
flights to the Gulf sector in the summer schedule. The new winter schedule has
added more flights to the Gulf chiefly to compensate for the same, and also to
meet the growing demand in the sector as well as the festival seasons,”
Capt Pushpinder Singh, deputy chief operating officer, said.
Michael V Joseph, station manager, said that a number of seats have been
added in the winter schedule from Kerala to the Gulf, which will be effective
from October 28. From Kochi, around 2,595 more seats would be added to
the 3,515 seats of the last summer schedule. From Kozhikode, 2,312
seats would be added to 4,995 of the last summer schedule, and from
Thiruvananthapuram, 1,480 more from 2,683 seats last summer.
Singh assured the customers of undisrupted flights from Kerala to the
Gulf. There will be no chance for complaints regarding intermittent flight
cancellations, he said.
“New pilots have been recruited, and their training is going on in
full swing. Not only the pilots, the crew required to carry on the operations
have also been recruited and trained. Air India has recruited local
people for its ground work at Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram,”
Singh said. He added that the passengers need not be confused over the fare.
“Air India is the
only airline that offers competitive fares for Kerala passengers,
especially to those going to the Gulf. The fare would remain the same,” he
said.
He also mentioned about the expansion works going ahead in Kerala. “With
an outlay of `70 crore, two state-of-the-art hangars have been set up in
Thiruvananthapuram,” he said.
“The maintenance, repair and operations(MRO) which has been set up
in Thiruvananthapuram is aimed at improving the operational facilities.
Wheel production, which had been carried out in Mumbai and Hyderabad earlier
would now be done in Thiruvananthapuram, and the work is progressing in full
swing now. Twenty-five engineers with sufficient technical and operational
skills have also been transferred to Thiruvananthapuram,” he said.
MRO at Thiruvananthapuram is all geared up to start the assembly
production of brakes. In a few months’ time, it would also be able to conduct
‘C’ checks (done every 6,000 hrs) for aircraft at Thiruvananthapuram.
“All these plans are awaiting approval from the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation,” Singh said.
It is a most promising future that Anshert D’souza has laid out for the
passengers from Kerala. Air India will deploy 14 more aircraft for its
operations from Kerala, spending `2,000 crore.
“The expansion which will happen in four to five years’ time will need
another 3,000 employees,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment