Air Kerala, set up by the government of the southern state of Kerala, will initially serve domestic routes before flying internationally—mainly to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC)—where 90% of the Kerala diaspora live. This includes Dubai, Qatar, Oman and Abu Dhabi.
Quartz reports that the GCC-India passage is one of the most lucrative routes for airlines. According to India’s airline regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation as many as five airlines from the GCC were among the top ten carriers of international passengers to and from India in 2014.
According to The Economic Times, the Kerala government is also likely to sell stake to private individuals and foreign airlines when it starts operations and is only expected to retain 26% in the company.
