New flight services from Trichy in the offing

The sputtering growth of Trichy airport may further go up to greater heights both in terms of passenger traffic and cargo movement as a number of new flights are going to be introduced from Trichy. The low-cost carrier AirAsia is all set to become the single largest operator as it is introducing a third flight to Kuala Lumpur from August 30 that would take off at 11.45pm every day, said an airline source. The carrier is already operating two services and bookings for the third one started on Sunday.

A source attached to the air cargo operations told TOI that this would mean another 90 tonnes could be exported to South East Asia from Trichy. Moreover, Fly Dubai of the Emirates group has obtained the director general of civil aviation's (DGCA) permission to operate a service from Madurai to Dubai, while SpiceJet is in the final stages of completing the formalities to operate a service on the Madurai - Singapore sector. Silk Air that currently operates a single service between Coimbatore and Singapore is eyeing the Trichy - Singapore sector and it might operate its second service from India from September 15, said an airline source.
Furthermore, a source at the Jet Airways confirmed that the airline was going to operate a daily domestic service between Trichy to Bangalore via Kochi from July 25. He said it would be a transit service and the Bangalore-bound passengers will remain seated at Kochi airport for about 20 minutes. The fare for both Kochi and Bangalore is the same: Rs 2,920. The competition in the skies has also forced AirAsia to slash its Trichy-Kuala Lumpur standard fare to Rs 3,650 from the previous Rs 4,800.

Seyyed, the managing director of ABS Xpress Private Limited who revolutionized the export market from Trichy by exporting three tonnes of curry leaves a week, told TOI that the introduction of new flights would also result in the export of general cargo in bulk orders.

Source