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AFTER months of speculation, Bahrain Air has won the rights to operate four direct flights from Bahrain to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Flights to and from the new destination will commence from tomorrow with flights departing from Bahrain at 9.25pm to arrive early at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport at 4.15am.
The return flight will depart from Thiruvananthapuram at 5am and arrive at Bahrain International Airport at 7.30am. Flights have been scheduled for onward connection to other Gulf States and Levant destinations.
Every week the flights are scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the return flights the following day. A round trip will start from BD145.
Upbeat Bahrain Air CEO Richard Nuttall said: “We look forward to boosting our route network to the Indian sub-continent.
“Our customers have been telling us that they wanted Thiruvananthapuram in our network for many months now.
“This is another step in our route expansion process this year.
“We have several other destinations in mind, and these will be announced as and when market conditions and approvals allow.”
Thiruvananthapuram, formerly known as Trivandrum, is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland, an area which is the ‘home’ of thousands of Indian expats and their families living and working in Bahrain.
Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the Evergreen city of India, the city is characterised by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills and busy commercial alleys.
With nearly one million inhabitants, it is the largest and most populous city in Kerala. The city houses several central and state government offices and organisations.
Apart from being the political nerve centre of Kerala, it is also a major academic hub and is home to several educational institutions including the University of Kerala, and to many science and technology institutions, the most prominent being the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre , the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and Technopark.
It is also considered as one among the 10 greenest cities in India. Thiruvananthapuram was ranked as the best city in Kerala to live in by a recent Times of India newspaper survey.
The airline’s marketing manager Naeem Mahamoor added: “Bahrain Air’s strategy is to develop as a regional carrier within the GCC, Indian sub-continent and Levant regions.
“Bahrain Air now provides most of the services of a full service carrier, with affordable fares providing an excellent choice for the passenger who does not want to compromise on service but wants value for money. Bahrain Air’s goal is to be a favourite for passengers flying within the region.”
The private airline, which calls itself the ‘Second National Carrier of Kingdom of Bahrain’, is continuing to upgrade its services. It has recently introduced the ability to purchase extra baggage allowances at the time of booking. For an extra 10kg of baggage allowance the passengers pay BD15 to any destination within its network. This is also scalable.
Passengers may purchase an extra 40kg in addition to the usual baggage allowance, and pay BD15 for each 10kg.
And it has adjusted its fare classes recently. Now every individual fare has been upgraded to Bahrain Air’s ‘Easy’ booking class. This means when passengers purchase the lowest fare on Bahrain Air, they can still change or cancel their booking for a small fee. This caters to business traffic and individuals who book in advance, but are concerned in case they need to change their plans.
Bahrain Air has just celebrated its fourth birthday and is continuing to add to its network. Kuwait is now served eight times per week from Bahrain.
This month it also officially inaugurated its new sales outlet at Lulu Hypermarket in Hidd, making it the airline’s sixth sales outlet in Bahrain.
