Air India Express to start Trivandrum - Dubai flights

4 May, 2007: Air India Express will start daily flights to Dubai from Trivandrum, Air India chairman V Thulsidas announced. Air India has given the construction management of the Air India hangar facility at Trivandrum to a consultant, he said. Air India Express has not provided the exact date for the launch of its Dubai - Trivandrum flights.

The construction of the hangar facility will start in June 2007 and iis expected to take almost 18 months to finish construction.

Air India Express will also start daily flights from Kozhikode to Dubai. Last year, almost 7.5 lakh passengers have travelled on Air India Express and this figure is expected to touch 10 lakh this year. Air India Express, which started two years back, is expecting to garner profits soon.

Air India now owns 140 planes and is in the process of buying more. Air India Express has announced its interest in starting flights to those destinations where the demand is high.

The Air India - Indian merger is expected to be completed in June and the newly merged entity will be the largest in the Asian continent. The name of the new company has not been decided.