United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier, Emirates Airline this year celebrates ten years of operations to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala in India. A relative newcomer to a country market served for more than 30 years, the international hub carrier introduced flights between its Dubai International Airport hub and Trivandrum International Airport from February 1, 2016.
Over the last decade, the city has emerged as an important passenger and cargo destination for the airline in the Indian sub-continent. Since the start of its operations, it has carried over two million passengers on the route and moved up to 105,000 tonnes of cargo in and out of Thiruvananthapuram.
“Southern India has always been a key market for Emirates and we are proud to complete ten years of successful operations to Thiruvananthapuram. We’ve had healthy seat load factors on the route since we launched the service in 2006, demonstrating passengers’ demand for Emirates’ unique product and service and our commitment to the market,” said Ahmed Khoory, Senior Vice President Commercial Operations- West Asia and Indian Ocean, Emirates Airline.
Located a few miles from the Arabian Sea, Thiruvananthapuram is an ideal gateway to India’s traditional Ayurvedic treatments and palm-fringed beaches of the Southern coastline. With a trading history that goes back a thousand years, Thiruvananthapuram is a melting pot of civilisations, all of which have left their mark- from brightly-coloured churches and hill-top palaces to colonial-housed museums and delectable cuisine.
“Whether for leisure, business or medical tourism, the state of Kerala remains one of the most popular destinations in India, attracting travellers from all around the world throughout the year. With 12 weekly flights and 17 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight, Emirates continues to facilitate inbound travel to India, strengthen trade links and connect passengers in Thiruvananthapuram to our expansive global network,” he added.
Alongside its passenger operation and belly-hold capacity on these scheduled flights, Emirates also operates chartered freighters to and from Thiruvananthapuram to meet the market demand during local festivals like Kerala’s harvest festival, Onam and the Malayalam New Year celebration, Vishu.
Emirates entered the Dubai – Thiruvananthapuram market when just Air India was serving the city pair, but it now faces competition from low-cost operators Air India Express, IndiGo and its own sister operation, flydubai. These mainly serve the large local market of around 870 bi-directional passengers per day (based on MIDT data for the first half of 2015), while Emirates alongside satisfying this demand with its competitive pricing, also provides numerous connection options via Dubai International Airport.
In the first half of 2015 the UAE carrier on average carried 785 passengers on the route each day, although just 31.8 per cent of these began or ended their journeys in Dubai. The largest connection markets via Dubai International Airport on this city pair during the six month period were Karachi, Dammam, Doha, London Heathrow and New York JFK.
Emirates completed 30 years of operations in India in 2015, and has since grown its operations to serve 10 destinations in the country, although flights to Kozhikode are currently suspended until further notice. It is now the third-largest international carrier serving India, operating 10.4 per cent of international capacity in the market, according to schedule data.
According to a recent study released by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Emirates' operations in India have contributed over $848 million annually to country's GDP while supporting over 86,000 Indian jobs and generating almost $1.7 billion in foreign exchange earnings.
The study points out that Emirates connects non-hub airports to a significant number of points in India which would otherwise not be directly linked to these airports. This highlights the connectivity Emirates provides to India, as well as emphasising their role in enhancing air transport and tourism.
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