It appears Kerala will have to mount pressure on the Centre to get more direct flight connectivity from the State to Europe and the U.S. Though the State has been demanding direct flight connectivity to destinations beyond West Asia and the Far East, the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s policy to limit points of call status for foreign airlines from Europe and the U.S. to six metro airports might dash Kerala’s hopes of getting more direct flights to Europe and the U.S.
According to R.K. Singh, principal advisor to IndiGo’s managing director, the Centre is not granting rights for foreign carriers from Europe and the U.S. to hold services to non-metro airports in the country.
The Kerala government will have to take up the matter with the Centre if it really wants to bring any change in the status quo, said Mr. Singh during a summit of airlines in Thiruvananthapuram recently.
The decision was taken to protect the interests of national carriers which were hit due to a significant imbalance in the number of points of call in favour of foreign carriers.
However, Indian designated carriers are free to mount scheduled operations to/from any international airport in the State to foreign destinations under the ambit of bilateral air service agreements concluded by India with foreign countries. Before the decision, the designated airlines of the U.S. and the U.K. were entitled to operate to/from any point in India, including points in Kerala, as per bilateral air services arrangements with these countries, although the actual operations by any airline have always been guided by its commercial judgement.
At present, Kerala has only one direct flight to the U.K., from Cochin International Airport and operated by Air India thrice a week. According to the Cochin International Airport limited (CIAL) authorities, the origin designation data collected by it before the COVID-19 pandemic had revealed that around 800 passengers head to various destinations in Europe daily. In the post-COVID-19 scenario, around 80% of the traffic was regained and there is a growing demand to make it a daily flight, said the officials.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had in 2020 restricted cargo flights by non-scheduled foreign operators to six airports in the country, which has cost Kerala dear, with its export revenue plummeting by around 40% compared to the pre-pandemic period.
