According to an announcement from the airport, on February 21, AirAsia Berhad will begin offering direct service from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. AirAsia Berhad indicated that an Airbus 320 aircraft with 180 passenger seats would be used for the Thiruvananthapuram-Kuala Lumpur route.

The flight, which is expected to arrive at 11.50 PM and depart at 12.25 AM, would initially run from Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

According to the statement, Air Asia will launch its initial service from Thiruvananthapuram. It also mentioned that, in addition to Kuala Lumpur, the airline will offer strong connectivity to nations like Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and so forth. 

According to the statement, IT businesses have long called for increased connectivity to East Asian nations, and this service will help Kerala’s and south Tamil Nadu’s travel and tourism industries.

As part of a 50:50 joint venture, Airbus and the Tata group-owned Air India established a pilot training facility in Gurugram, Haryana, last month, the business announced on Thursday. Additionally, the European aviation major formed a partnership with GMR Aero Technic to provide training courses in aircraft maintenance engineering at the latter’s Hyderabad location.

As part of the entire Airbus Flight Training Device setup, the 3,300 square metre Tata Airbus training centre will have 10 full flight simulators (FFS), flight training classrooms, and briefing and debriefing facilities, according to Airbus.

The facility is scheduled to begin operations in early 2025 with the initial installation of four A320 FFS. Over a ten-year period, it will provide A320 and A350 flight training to about 5,000 new pilots, according to the statement. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Indian DGCA have approved its course offerings, according to Airbus.

Airbus said that as part of its partnership with GMR Aero Technic, it will supply training materials including, but not limited to, trainee handbooks, examination databases, and online access to Airbus-specific training modules. Additionally, it will give ongoing evaluations of the training centre and train GMR instructors.

India’s aviation industry, which is growing at the fastest rate in the world, would require 41,000 pilots and 47,000 technicians over the course of the next 20 years to keep up with demand. According to Remi Maillard, President and Managing Director of Airbus India and South Asia, “Airbus’ dedication to developing human capital is demonstrated by the pilot training centre with Air India and the maintenance training partnership with GMR.”