Demand for maiden Kannur-Abu Dhabi flight spikes; tickets sell out fast

Flight tickets on the maiden Air India Express flight from the soon-to-be-launched Kannur International Airport in the South Indian state of Kerala to Abu Dhabi has almost sold out, according to senior officials at the airline.

Officials also revealed that flights to Sharjah from Kannur will be added to the network in a day or two.

"The first international flight is set to fly out on 10 am IST on December 9, the same date as the official opening day," PG Prageesh, chief of corporate communication at Air India Express, revealed to Khaleej Times on Tuesday.

Tickets on the maiden flight went live on Monday, November 12, and within moments, and the 'express value' category of tickets have been completely sold out, according to the airline website. However, a few 'express flexi' category of tickets remains.

AI Express is currently the only airline operating international flights out of the Kannur Airport for now.

"Tickets are indeed almost sold out. There was great enthusiasm in the market. We can't reveal the number of bookings as of now, as it is commercially confident information," he said.

An Air India Express flight conducted a flight trial at Kannur International Airport on 20th September 2018. The Boeing 737/800 carried out a total of six approaches for the DVOR approach procedure check.#KANNUR #kannurairport #Airport #Kerala #travel #Tourism #AirIndia #flight pic.twitter.com/teEsmBwPre

- Kannur International Airport Ltd (@airportCNN) September 20, 2018

The Boeing 737 800 flight has a capacity of 189 seats on the aircraft.

The airport will be able to handle at a time 2,000 passengers and it is anticipated that KIAL will serve more than 1.5 million international passengers annually, besides changing the face of north Kerala with tourism and business activities especially handloom, textiles and floriculture.

The integrated passenger terminal building design with a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold rating offers passenger convenience, promotes efficient space utilisation and is environmentally friendly. #Kannur #KannurAirport #KeralaAirport #Airport #Kerala pic.twitter.com/UoBUpimYxP

- Kannur International Airport Ltd (@airportCNN) October 4, 2018

This airport will start off with a runway of 3,050 metres and in another 18 months after it opens, it will see its runway length increase to 3,400 metres and eventually it will touch 4,000 metres, making it one of the four biggest airports in the country.

With this, Kerala will be the only state in the country to have five international airports.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

(With inputs taken from IANS)

Dhanusha Gokulan

Originally from India, Dhanusha Gokulan has been working as a journalist for over ten years. For Khaleej Times, she covers NRI affairs, civil aviation, and immigration issues among other things. She completed her BA in Journalism, Economics and English Literature from Mangalore University in 2008 and is currently pursuing her MA in Leadership and Innovation in Contemporary Media at the American University in Dubai. In her spare time, she dabbles with some singing/songwriting, loves food, and is mom to an over-enthusiastic Labrador retriever. Tweet at her @shootsprintrite.