Thiruvananthapuram Airport development

It has been four months since the Adani Group took over the Thiruvananthapuram airport. They have taken over the management for the next 50 years with the promise of making the airport world-class. It is the number of flight services from an airport that attracts passengers to the airport. The number of services was naturally cut down with the onset of Covid. With this, the number of domestic services from Thiruvananthapuram came down drastically. For example, where there were up to four services a day to Chennai, there is now only one service in the evening. It is not the lack of passengers but the lack of services that is crippling the airport. Recognizing this, it has been decided to start more domestic services to Thiruvananthapuram. The number of international services will also be increased. The number of domestic services will increase from 60 per week to 79 per week. The Adani Group said that it expects more services on its summer schedule. Indigo Bangalore will increase its services from seven a week to 20 a week. There will be two services in the morning and one service in the evening every day. There were four services a week to both Kannur and Kochi. This has been increased to one service a day. Daily services to Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad will remain the same. Authorities are also planning to launch new services to Delhi, Pune and Kozhikode. In the case of international services, more services will be launched to the Gulf countries.

With the Adani Group taking over the management of the airport, it is generally hoped that the Thiruvananthapuram airport will grow to greater heights. It was also reported that the Adani Group would subcontract the airport to German company FMG, which operates the Munich airport. If a German company comes to Thiruvananthapuram, it can start services from Thiruvananthapuram to major cities across the globe. There are also plans to open more shopping and service centres to provide better service to passengers. This will create more job opportunities for the youth of the capital city. As the air connectivity to Thiruvananthapuram increases, it is natural for new investments to come in. Shashi Tharoor MP had said that although some foreign companies had informed their willingness to come to the Technopark, they were not able to do so due to the lack of direct flights. The development of Thiruvananthapuram Airport will benefit the development of the state in many ways. Hence, the state government should also cooperate. The Tourism Department can also work with the Adani Group to develop plans for the development of spiritual tourism. If there is an increase in domestic services to various cities in India, many North Indian travellers will fly to Thiruvananthapuram to visit the Padmanabhaswamy Temple and Kanyakumari.