TRIVANDRUM: Subsidised flights connecting other Indian cities to Kerala’s new international airport will take off by the middle of this year, before the formal launch of the airport in Sept.

SpiceJet and Indigo will operate daily flights from Kannur to Cochin, Trivandrum, Chennai, Bangalore, Hubli, Goa, Ghaziabad and Delhi, P Balakiran, the managing director of the Kannur International Airport, said on Friday.

Besides this, Jet Airways and GoAir will fly to Dammam and Abu Dhabi. Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, flydubai, Air Arabia, Gulf Air, AirAsia, SriLankan Airways and Oman Air have evinced interest in flying to Kannur, he said.

The domestic airlines will offer cheaper flights under the federal government’s regional connectivity scheme (RCS) or Udan as per a recent tripartite agreement signed among the airport company, aviation ministry and the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

The subsidised flights under the scheme have a cap of a maximum fare of Rs 2,500 (US$39) an hour. The airfare for a distance of 151 to 175 km is 1,420 up to 200 km Rs 1500, and so on, with a ceiling of Rs 3,500 for a total length of 800 km.

The burden on the airlines will be compensated through the viability gap funding by the federal and state government, the majority stakeholder of the airport company, at a ratio of 80:20.

Air India Express is reportedly planning flights to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat, Sharjah and Riyadh.

The state government expects the airport to bring a large number of tourists to the region, rated by the Lonely Planet as the third best destination in Asia for holidaymakers to visit this year.

It had last week cleared road building or widening projects to improve connectivity to the airport from different directions — Thalassery, Mananthavady, Peravoor, Iritty and Taliparamba - Mayyil - Chalode.

The promoters expect to have an annual passenger traffic of 1.3 million in the first year and 4.67 million a year by 2026, both expats and tourists. It expects to see the cargo movement of 60,758 tonnes a year at the airport with a peak-hour handling capacity of 18 aircraft.

Currently, interior works at 95,000 sq metre built-up area of the terminal are progressing at a fast pace.