Viajes India
8th July 2010
Condor Airlines to offer direct connectivity between Kerala and Europe from November 5, 2010 July 7, 2010
According to a report in The Hindu by S. Anil Radhakrishnan, Condor Airlines, one of the popular German airlines, will offer direct connectivity between Kerala and Europe with the commencement of flights from Frankfurt to Kochi via Bahrain from November 5, 2010. Initially, the airline will offer only ‘seasonal flights' every Thursday on the Frankfurt-Kochi sector using Boeing 757-300 aircraft from November 5, 2010 to April 29, 2010.
The commencement of direct flights from Frankfurt has come as a relief to the tourism industry that is trying hard to overcome the slump due to economic recession and non-operation of chartered flights from the UK and Scandinavian countries to Kerala.
ACK Nair, Director, Nedumbassery Airport said, “Currently, we have connectivity to Europe via Mumbai, Qatar and Dubai. The commencement of flights by Condor will offer direct connectivity between Kerala and Europe for the first time. It was a long-pending demand of the travel and tourism industry.”
The low landing charges at Cochin International Airport (ten per cent less compared to other airports) seem to have prompted the airline to opt for Nedumbassery instead of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. “We are open to discussions and in providing further concessions to the airline,” added Nair.
As per information provided to Kerala Tourism, the airline will sell the air space among German tour operators. The decision will be a big boost to the burgeoning tourism industry, especially Ayurveda, as it is in huge demand among German tourists. Tour operators state that the commencement of direct flights will bring in middle and upmarket German holidaymakers in large numbers in the coming months.
M Sivasankar, Director, Kerala Tourism said that the air connectivity to Europe, especially Frankfurt, will bring substantial benefits to the tourism sector of Kerala. “Already German tour operators have approached us sensing the potential of the market. Ayurveda is going to be the major beneficiary as those who come for therapy stay for a minimum of 21 days in the state,” added Sivasankar.
Sivasankar also mentioned that Kerala Tourism has been able to penetrate the German market due to established tour operators, focused attention and active participation in ITB Berlin. Kerala Tourism will strengthen the market in the coming months and opt for new-format road shows to further penetrate the market. Incidentally, Germany is the third largest tourism source market for Kerala after the UK and France. Of the 5.98 lakh foreign tourist who arrived in Kerala in 2008, 43,468 were Germans. As per provisional figures for 2009, the number of German tourists who arrived in the state last year was 40,000.
