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India's first budget airlines, the Air-India Express, took to the skies on
Friday in a simultaneous launch from the Kerala capital and Kochi to
Abu Dhabi.
Governor R.L. Bhatia 'flagged off' the flight from the Thiruvananthapuram
airport with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Civil Aviation Minister Praful
Patel on board.
The flight took off 45 minutes behind schedule at 9.15 a.m. after the
inaugural function was delayed. The Kochi flight took off at 9.30 a.m. And
the flight from Kozhikode to
Dubai will
leave at 9 p.m.
The airline will have a three-tier fare structure with ticket prices
ranging from Rs.3,250 to Rs.6,500 for a one-way trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
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Air-India has leased three aircrafts for operating the budget flights
from the three international airports in Kerala. It will operate 31 weekly
flights from the state - six from Thiruvananthapuram, 14 from Kozhikode and
11 from Kochi.
The total seating capacity of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft is 181, but
Air-India manager R. Ghosh did not divulge the exact number of passengers.
On board the inaugural flight from Thiruvananthapuram.
"I can't divulge such details to the press," said Ghosh.
It is learnt that close to 50 passengers, including politicians and some
mediapersons, are on the flight.
Air-India chairperson and Managing Director V. Thulasidas said aviation
authorities had cleared the Air-India Express budget flight, and the first
flight to Muscat would operate on May 3.
The Air-India Express has been clouded in controversy with travel agents
saying that the prices would be much higher than stated.
"Just log on to the Air-India Express website to find out the ticket
charges. You would be surprised to see that starting Aug 9, a one way ticket
to Dubai from here would cost Rs.7,500 and it peaks to as high as Rs.12,000
on Aug 30," said a travel agent here.
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