Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) announced the winter schedule for the international and domestic sectors, which will be effective from October 30 to March 25, 2023. With this schedule becoming effective, CIAL will facilitate a total of 1202 weekly air traffic movements as against 1160 in the ongoing summer schedule.
The winter schedule indicates that the airport operator is bracing for a strong comeback after the pandemic gap. The schedule will see 26 airlines operating to destinations abroad among which 22 are international carriers operating 271 weekly departures. Air India Express tops the list with 44 weekly departures to international destinations whereas Indigo will have 42 domestic departure operations weekly. There will be 44 weekly departures to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat comes second with 30 operations from Kochi, whereas weekly services to Kuala Lumpur have increased to 25.
CIAL schedules 327 domestic operations for the winter season offering connectivity with 13 cities in the country which includes 104 weekly flights to Bengaluru, 56 weekly flights to New Delhi, 42 to Mumbai, 24 to Hyderabad, 52 to Chennai, and 10 to Pune. There will be daily flights to Agathi, Ahmedabad, Goa, Kannur, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram.
CIAL managing director S Suhas IAS said that CIAL’s commitment to the passengers and aviation fraternity has been a driving force behind the establishment of connectivity across the directions. “Hon. Chairman and the Board of Directors have already laid out a blueprint for the future. We are trying to introduce more international carriers and activate new routes. We hope that the commissioning of the general aviation terminal this year itself will also give impetus to the traffic growth,” he said.
Owing to the measures implemented for ensuring smooth connectivity during the post-pandemic era, CIAL registered a growth of 92.66% in passenger volume and 60.06% in air traffic movement in the 2021-22 fiscal compared to the previous one. Hence, CIAL also became the third busiest airport in the country in terms of international traffic.