Kochi, May 1 (UNI) Air Arabia, the international low-cost airline based in the UAE, today launched its operations to Kochi as its third Indian destination.

Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi led the hosts to welcome the first flight from Sharjah at the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery amid fanfare and celebrations this afternoon.

Speaking on the occasion, Air Arabia CEO Adel Ali said the airline will commence operations by operating four flights a week and increase the frequency later.

Air Arabia will start operations to Jaipur on May 12, taking the total number of flights to Indian destinations to 28. It already operates to Mumbai and Nagpur.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Ravi said he would ensure Air Arabia soon got landing rights in Calicut also and requested the operator to increase the number of flights by two per day to help the Keralites working in the Gulf.

Air Arabia, which offered the lowest fare on the Kerala-Gulf sector, had been waiting for approval by the Union Government for nearly three years even as requests came in plenty and regularly from the customers, Mr Ali said.

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