Air India Express, the wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, will operate three flights a week on Delhi-Coimbatore-Singapore sector starting November 18, its Chief Executive K Shyam Sundar has said.
Making a formal announcement here on Wednesday, the CEO of Air India Express said the flight would depart from Coimbatore at 11.15 pm and land at Singapore at 6.15 am (Singapore time) the following day. In the return direction, it will depart from Singapore at 10.40 am and land at Coimbatore at 12.30 pm.
The Delhi-Coimbatore-Singapore flight will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He added that the carrier would explore linking Coimbatore to the Gulf “as soon as resources permit”.
Industry associations here have been emphasising the need for connectivity to Dubai and Kuala Lumpur for quite some time now.
Responding to their demand, Sundar ruled out connectivity to Dubai due to “lack of slot” as a hurdle.
“Delhi has emerged as a hub for international connectivity to the US, Europe and other outbound destinations. Trade bodies could explore the possibility of moving cargo to the capital for transhipment to international destinations without delay. The daily passenger traffic — in and out of Delhi — to destinations within India and overseas is around 7,000,” he added.
Reiterating that the carrier envisions to make it a valuable proposition, he urged the industrialists to optimise the potential by shipping cargo as well. “The aircraft to Singapore will have capacity to carry four tonnes of cargo. Exporters could make use of this,” he explained.
Hailing the announcement, Vanitha Mohan, Convenor, Kongu Global Forum, appealed to the CEO of Air India Express to consider making the existing thrice weekly flight to Singapore a daily service.
The Forum also sought a direct Air India flight from Coimbatore to Delhi every morning and a return flight every evening to help international passengers travelling to and from Europe.