New budget airline in debut flight
26 March 2007



Budget airline Air India Express made its first flight into Bahrain yesterday. It is a subsidiary of Air India, which has been operating seven flights a week to Bahrain.

Air India Express takes over the Bahrain route from Air India and will operate 11 flights a week, with all-economy seats.

A Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) delegation, headed by Assistant Under-Secretary for Aviation Services Ahmed Nemat Ali, welcomed the first flight.

Indian Charge D' Affaires A K Bhatnagar, Y B A Kanoo Group (general sales agent for Air India) deputy chairman Mubarak Kanoo, Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) chairman Fawzi Kanoo and Unitag Group chairman and chief executive Jamil Wafa, were also among the welcoming party, along with Indian community leaders, Air India, immigration and airport officials .

The inaugural flight was from Mangalore, in southern India and was the first flight to land in Bahrain from the region.

Girls in traditional dress and artists wearing the costumes of Yakshagana, the dance form in Karnataka, added colour to the welcome ceremony.

"Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa wishes the airline every success and assures his full support to Air India Express," Mr Ali said in his welcome speech.

Air India, said Mr Ali, has played a vital role in bringing India and Bahrain together.

"Initially starting with one flight per week (in 1960), today we have 11 flights per week connecting five cities in India - Mumbai, Calicut, Mangalore, Cochin and Trivandrum," he revealed.

"Currently, more than 70 international destinations are served out of Bahrain by various airlines."

Passenger traffic through Bahrain International Airport soared 20 per cent to around seven million last year, said Mr Ali.

"The growth we are anticipating in 2007 will strengthen Air India Express' position in increasing their market share as the Bahrain-India sector will experience further growth, with new routes and frequencies being added," he noted.

Tickets will be at least 20 per cent cheaper than the current fares, said Air India and Air India Express country manager for Bahrain and Jordan, Mr D Debesh.

"A long cherished dream of the Mangalorean community in Bahrain has come true when we added Mangalore as a new destination ," he told the GDN.

Under the new operational pattern, there will be four flights to Mumbai, five flights to Kerala (four to Cochin , three to Calicut, and one to Trivandrum), and two to Mangalore, said Mr Debesh.

Air India's current fleet of A310s has been replaced by Air India Express' new Boeing 737-800 .

"While the A310 has a capacity of 22 seats on the J-class and 180 on the economy class, the 737 will offer 170 seats - all on the economy class," said Mr Debesh.

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