Oman Air to operate service to Kochi

By T.S. Shankar

CHENNAI, AUG. 18. Following the bilateral talks between the Civil Aviation Departments of the Sultanate of Oman and India and the subsequent grant of traffic rights to Oman Air to operate scheduled flights to Kochi, the foreign carrier could now provide 600 weekly seats to that city.

Giving details of the talks, Oman Air sources here told The Hindu that the inaugural flight to Kochi would be operated on August 22. The airline can provide 600 weekly seats to Kochi and it is also granted 400 additional seats between Oman and Mumbai and Oman and Chennai per week. The designated Indian carriers have been granted reciprocal capacity increase and given Salalah as an additional point of operation in the Sultanate of Oman.

Initially, Oman Air will operate a tri-weekly service on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays and later increase it to four times a week by adding Saturday in the schedule with effect from September 1.

The Omani delegation, headed by the Director General of Civil Aviation and Meteorology, included senior officials from Oman Air and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Meteorology.

Oman Air will be the first foreign scheduled airline to commence operations to Kochi. It currently flies thrice-a-week service to Chennai, daily to Mumbai and four days a week to Thiruvananthapuram.

Explaining that Kochi was an interesting addition to Oman Air's network the sources noted that Kochi was becoming a popular tourist destination as the Ayurvedic system of treatment was attracting globaltourists.

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