Historic: Tiruchy airport set to have 103 international services per week
Post-COVID, traffic from and to Tiruchy has risen dramatically and with the introduction of new services to Dammam and Muscat, the number of services at the international airport will touch 103 every week. More services are likely if runway expansion is completed and bilateral services kickstart
People at Tiruchy International Airport
TIRUCHY: One of the busiest airports in Tamil Nadu, with the latest passenger-friendly facilities, the Tiruchy International Airport is all set to achieve historically high international services from January 6.
With 103 services a week and two new services to Dammam and one to Muscat scheduled to be operated by the Air India Express, this airport will be one among many in the State to have the maximum number of services.
As the winter schedule for air services commenced, the Tiruchy International Airport flourished with many more additional services, including new routes.
The flights from Tiruchy airport have connectivity to as many as 11 destinations, among which Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are the most sought-after destinations. Both these destinations have 35 and 34 services every week respectively.
This apart, eight services connect Colombo and seven services each connect Dubai and Sharjah. There are three services a week to Abu Dhabi and Bangkok respectively.
In November 2017, there were as many as 102 international services per week from Tiruchy airport and thereafter the services had declined owing to various reasons.
However, in due course of time, Tiruchy airport had a record handling of passengers and stood among the top ranks in customer satisfaction and passenger-friendly scores. Subsequently, the services to new destinations like Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Doha and Kuwait began after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sources said that despite there being a requirement for services to Bahrain, Riyadh, Jeddah, Madina, Bali, Jaffna and Penang where many Tamil diasporas live, the services were limited.
However, after the COVID-19, heavy migration to Southeast Asian countries from the Delta region was witnessed and the service to these destinations was felt to be a must.
Interestingly, Air India Express is scheduled to operate their twice-weekly service from Tiruchy to Dammam from January 2 and additional service to Muscat from January 6.
“With the new service to Dammam and Muscat, Tiruchy will reach 103 services per week, the historical highest number of international services. This is a sign that Tiruchy airport has a booming prospect,” said H Ubaidullah, an independent aviation analyst.
Confirming the commencement of service to the new destination of Dammam, which would be the 11th international destination from Tiruchy, a higher official from the airport said, the Tiruchy airport would witness its level best traffic from December.
“There are a few optimistic signs that a few more new services would commence from January,” the official confirmed.
Meanwhile, Ubaidullah said, as per the current bilateral scenario, countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are ready to increase their designated services while the Gulf countries are ready to start their services.
“It is for the government to show interest in increasing services bi-laterally,” he said.
Official sources said that apart from Gulf and Southeast Asian countries, existing services to Colombo in Sri Lanka were also increased from seven to eight services per week by Sri Lankan Airlines during December, while Air Asia has also launched direct flight connectivity between Tiruchy and Bangkok earlier.
"Discussions are there that several airline operators have been analysing the passenger potential handled by the airport and expressed their willingness to increase their services,” said an official and added that there are chances for further increasing the services as the passenger flow has been steadily increasing in the airport.
CONNECTIVITY COUNT:
(International destinations per week)
-- 35 services fly to Singapore per week
-- 34 flights fly to Kuala Lumpur
-- 8 flights touch Colombo
-- 7 services connect Dubai
-- 7 flights to Sharjah
-- 3 flights connect Abu Dhabi
-- 3 fly to Bangkok
-- 1 to Doha
-- 1 to Kuwait
-- 2 to Muscat (1 from Jan 6)
-- 2 to Dammam (from Jan 2)
= 103 flights in total every week
Newly added destinations post-COVID: Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Doha, Kuwait and Dammam
Destinations in demand: Bahrain, Riyadh, Jeddah, Madina, Bali, Jaffna and Penang
Countries willing to operate designated services: Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand
