Karipur: Flight operations at Kozhikode airport are set to receive a major boost, with airline companies announcing new services connecting the airport to Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. A recent meeting of airline company representatives convened at the airport also revealed plans to launch additional services to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and expand domestic operations with services to Thiruvananthapuram and New Delhi.

Asir Asia, based in Malaysia, has expressed willingness to launch services to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, while Fits Air from Sri Lanka conveyed its readiness to kick start service to Colombo. The airlines are hopeful to launch these new services within the next few months. The flight services to Colombo and Kuala Lumpur will enhance onward connectivity to far-eastern destinations, such as Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia, as well as to countries like China, Japan, and Vietnam. This will benefit a vast number of tourists, students, as well as business traffic. The meeting was organized by the Kozhikode Airport Authority in association with the Al-Hind group.

Major decisions
1) Air India Express representative promised that the airline would launch more domestic services from Kozhikode, in addition to a new service to Thiruvananthapuram.
2) Indian operator Akash Air and Singapore-based Scoot Airline acknowledge the significance of Kozhikode airport and assert their due consideration for the airport.
3) Indigo Airlines official speaks of plans to restore its Dammam service, which was withdrawn earlier.
4) Flynas and Spice Jet convey their plans to launch services to Riyadh in addition to their existing Riyadh service.

Hike in Haj travel cost; MPs register protest
Parliament members who attended the recent meeting at Kozhikode airport registered their strong protest over the sharp increase in ticket fares for the Hajj pilgrimage from the airport. During the meeting, MPs Abdusamad Samadani and MK Raghavan raised the issue with the representative of the Air India Express and recorded their protests. Pointing out that the flight travel for the pilgrimage from Kozhikode costs almost double the ticket fares from other departure points in Kerala, such as Kannur and Kochi, Samadani MP said this could not be accepted.

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