Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Air India Express dream hit by indecision, delay


Kochi: Indecision, lobbying and the delay in getting top officials to assume office has meant that Kochi will have to wait further for becoming the home of Air India Express, the low-cost arm of national carrier Air India.
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal, in December 2012, had announced that the headquarters of the airline would be shifted to Kochi by January 2013.
 However, the airline- which operates a major share of its services from Kerala- is still in search of spacious office space in Kochi, even as top officials reportedly are yet to assume charge.
Earlier, there had been a move to house the headquarters at the government-owned Revenue Tower in the city. However, the plan was dropped after the district administration informed that the 4,000 sq ft area demanded by the airline is available only on separate floors. Later, the Ernakulam Collector had suggested space at the office complex of the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) but the airline authorities have not taken any final decision in this regard.
02/04/13 Babu K Peter/New Indian Express
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