Kochi: The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) has made changes in its summer schedule considering the heavy traffic in the domestic aviation sector. In addition to the previously announced services, the company has introduced services to more cities from Kochi.
The CIAL has also recorded more than one crore passengers in the financial year 2023-24.
As many as 1,628 services per week were announced in the summer timetable which came into force on March 31. Around 60 services have been added to the list and they started functioning in the first week of May.
Air India Express operates six weekly services to Kolkata. IndiGo services to Ranchi, Chandigarh, Varanasi, Raipur and Lucknow have also started. Air India Express have announced new services to Pune and Air Asia to Ranchi and Bagdogra.
CIAL has also expanded its services to metro cities in India. According to the latest estimates, there are 20 daily services to Bengaluru alone. There are 13 services to Delhi and 10 to Mumbai. IndiGo has started daily services to Lakshadweep from May 1. The service in Kozhikode-Kochi-Agathi-Kochi route has received good response.
At present, Alliance Air operates 10 services per week to Agathi. Kochi Airport also runs services to Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram, Salem and Ahmedabad.
13 services to Bangkok
Considering the increase in the number of tourists to the eastern region, services to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City have been increased. With the launch of three more services by premium airline Thai Airways, the number of weekly services from Kochi to Bangkok has risen to 13. Thai Air operates services to Suvarnabhumi airport while AirAsia and Lion Air conduct services to Don Mueang airport. There are 14 services to Singapore and 22 to Kuala Lumpur. Air India has announced that it will increase the number of weekly services to London from three to four.
CIAL has recorded 1.053 crore passengers in the financial year 2023-24. This is the highest traffic in the history of the airport. There has been an increase of 18 per cent over the previous financial year. CIAL handled 70,203 services in 2023-24. In the calendar year 2023 as well, more than one crore passengers travelled through CIAL. Of the total number of passengers in the last financial year, 55.98 lakh passengers travelled in the domestic sector and 49.31 lakh people in the international sector.
