Direct flights to Europe from November

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Condor, a popular German holiday airline, will offer direct connectivity between Kerala and Europe with the commencement of direct flights from Frankfurt to Kochi from November.

Initially, the airline will offer only �seasonal flights every Thursday on the Frankfurt-Kochi sector from November to April next. The first flight of the airline to Kerala using Boeing 757-300 aircraft will take off on November 5 from Frankfurt, which is also the headquarters of the largest holiday airline in Germany. The flight will be via Bahrain and will be in operation till April 29. The commencement of direct flights from Frankfurt has come as a relief to the tourism industry that is trying hard to overcome the slump due to economic recession and non-operation of chartered flights from the U.K. and Scandinavian countries to Kerala.

�We have connectivity to Europe via Mumbai, Qatar and Dubai at present. The commencement of flights by Condor will offer direct connectivity between Kerala and Europe for the first time. It was a long-pending demand of the travel and tourism industry, Director, Nedumbassery airport, A.C.K. Nair told The Hindu.

The low landing charges at the Cochin international airport (10 per cent less compared to other airports) seem to have prompted the airline to opt for Nedumbassery instead of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport. �We are open to discussions and in providing further concessions to the airline,� Mr. Nair said.