Etihad Airways is marking 10 years of flying to Kerala with the addition of more flights to the southern Indian state.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has launched a fourth daily flight to Kozhikode, boosting its operations in the state to 63 weekly services to three cities: Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. This represents more than 30% of Etihad’s total Indian frequencies.

The capacity now includes four flights a day to Kozhikode, three daily services to Kochi and two daily to flights to state capital Thiruvananthapuram. All the Kerala flights are operated using a mix of Airbus 320 and A321 aircraft.

Addressing the media at a briefing in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, Neerja Bhatia, Etihad’s vice president for the Indian subcontinent, said; “With our multi-frequency scheduled flights to and from Kerala, Etihad Airways has demonstrated a commitment to this vibrant state by offering convenient global access and boosting the domestic tourism industry.

“We have been able to bring the world closer to this beautiful state and connect the people of Kerala to destinations in the Gulf, including our Abu Dhabi home, which has also been the base for thriving ventures by Kerala business houses. Reaching a 10-year milestone is fitting tribute to the support Etihad Airways has received from the state government of Kerala in making our operations a success.”

Dr Venu Vasudevan, Principal Secretary of Kerala Tourism, commented; “Kerala Tourism is delighted to learn of the extra flights launched by Etihad Airways, which adds more connectivity to Kerala. We congratulate Etihad Airways on a decade of flying to Kerala and look forward to conducting several joint initiatives to promote the many diverse destinations across our state.”

Etihad’s overall Indian network now includes 194 weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and 11 destinations: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram.