Friday, August 03, 2007 SilkAir expands network with more flights, routes
THE flights will mark the first ever-direct air service between both cities.
Popularly known as the ‘Manchester’ of South India, Coimbatore (also referred to as Kovai) is known for its textile factories, engineering firms, automobile parts manufacturers, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions.
The city’s buoyant economic growth offers favourable prospects for business traffic and commercial cargo on SilkAir’s service.
Coimbatore is the regional airline’s third destination in South India, after Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
SilkAir is also looking to launch flights to Kathmandu, Nepal later this year.
Pending government approval, the airline hopes to introduce a thrice-weekly service between Singapore and Nepal’s capital city.
There are presently no direct flights between both cities, the extended coverage of the joint SilkAir-Singapore Airlines network is expected to boost traffic to Kathmandu through Singapore’s Changi Airport.
“We’re very excited about the new routes,” said SilkAir’s chief executive Chin Yau Seng. “Both cities are well aligned with SilkAir’s network and our vision of championing access to new points in Asia”.
SilkAir also plans to boost capacity on existing routes when its Northern Winter schedule comes into effect on Oct. 28.
The airline will operate more flights to Yangon, Thiruvananthapuram, Siem Reap, Phuket, Langkawi, and Kota Kinabalu.
With the additional flights, SilkAir will operate more than 400 scheduled weekly services this Northern Winter, a growth of 15 percent over last year.
The new routes will take SilkAir’s network to 29 exotic destinations across 11 countries.
SilkAir operates a fleet of 14 Airbus A-320 family aircraft; with 11 more of the same type on firm order and options for a further nine.
