Kerala-Europe - Airliners-India

texdravid · Recruit

Kerala-Europe

malik · Member

I am told that one of the commercial considerations delaying flights on longhaul routes to/from Kerala are the heavy State Government taxes on fuel as well as all other aviation services. Otherwise, on potential, Kerala could be right up there with the best.

Aren't you getting regular charters into Kerala, like Goa or Amritsar?

karatecatman · Member

AI is working on this.

Once the new 777 fleet is in place and reaches a stable enough level, AI will work on dedicated 777/747 connection from mainly Kochi to the West (London/US). Or it may be a Chennai-Kochi/West bound service.

Chennai too will get a dedicated 777/747 towards the West. (Somethings brewing anyway as AI is looking for accommodation for flight crew -- pilot, co-pilot. Notices were in all the major dailies here on Aug 6,7. A few weeks ago it was for cabin crew. AI never positions either crew type from Chennai.)

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Kerala is getting as lot of the ship cruise traffic.

Mattencherry and the Portuguese heritage are a big draw for charter flight traffic from Gatwick. Also Goa feeds a lot of the traffic into Kerala.

Many prefer doing Kochi-Goa or the other way around.

-- Edited by karatecatman at 15:56, 2006-08-07

tayara mechanici · Member

karatecatman wrote:

AI is working on this.

Once the new 777 fleet is in place and reaches a stable enough level, AI will work on dedicated 777/747 connection from mainly Kochi to the West (London/US). Or it may be a Chennai-Kochi/West bound service.

Chennai too will get a dedicated 777/747 towards the West. (Somethings brewing anyway as AI is looking for accommodation for flight crew -- pilot, co-pilot. Notices were in all the major dailies here on Aug 6,7. A few weeks ago it was for cabin crew. AI never positions either crew type from Chennai.)

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Kerala is getting as lot of the ship cruise traffic.

Mattencherry and the Portuguese heritage are a big draw for charter flight traffic from Gatwick. Also Goa feeds a lot of the traffic into Kerala.

Many prefer doing Kochi-Goa or the other way around.

-- Edited by karatecatman at 15:56, 2006-08-07

BA has plans of operating into cochin next, ahead of hyderabad. There was a press release from BA around the time UK-INDIA signed the enhanced bilaterals.

Condor, Monarch, Firstchoice are some of the charter operators flying into trivandrum during the winter schedule. Unlike Goa, kerala doen't encourage mass tourism, it prefers the more affluent tourists. Most of the flts into trivandrum or cochin is once a week, whereas goa attracts atleast 3 flts/wk per operator.

-- Edited by tayara mechanici at 16:07, 2006-08-07

karatecatman · Member

Unlike Goa, kerala doen't encourage mass tourism, it prefers the more affluent tourists.

-- Edited by tayara mechanici at 16:07, 2006-08-07

Mass tourism comes in from domestic (Indian) traffic!! Result is certain spots of the State are fast losing their pristine state.

Paedophila on the rise. The sorry aspect of Kerala tourism now. Completes the Paedophila triangle of Sri-Lanka--Kerala--Goa

-- Edited by karatecatman at 16:25, 2006-08-07

-- Edited by karatecatman at 16:50, 2006-08-07

VOTV · Member

Paedophila on the rise. The sorry aspect of Kerala tourism now. Completes the Paedophila triangle of Sri-Lanka--Kerala--Goa

-- Edited by karatecatman at 16:25, 2006-08-07

-- Edited by karatecatman at 16:50, 2006-08-07

And your point being? Has it got anything to do with the Civil Aviation?

karatecatman · Member

In a way. Yes. If you look at the subject of paedophilia and aviation in general.

Thailand and Sri Lanka are a classic case. You have direct, cheap charter flights that bring in the unwanted as well. So it does play a factor. But as I said IN A WAY.

The basis for the point is on a paper by UNICEF and its study on mass tourism and paedophilia.

In general, paedophila and transport (includes civil aviation) forms a part of data requirements of the Air Passengers (US Immigration Requirements, 2004, from the UK, and amended on December 2005 with further amendments later this year), discussed and tabled in the House of Commons. The basis for this is that paedophilia is suspected on the basis of repeated travel to countries that have a flourishing sex trade. In this, in clause 24 are listed India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives, Cambodia and Laos with the subclauses giving exhaustive data of the situation in each country. Much of the data is supplied by Interpol -- Trafficking in Human Beings and their Exploitation cell.l

Data is also suppplied by the Association of British Travel Agents, the Association of European Travel Agents and given to the Deputy Commissioner of US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, the Electronic Privacy Information Centre, Washington and on an option under the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2005. UNICEF, UNESCO and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) can access this data.

The subject is also a matter for study by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, with a listing in its IRISEM database as Trafficking in Minors and S**ual Exploitation of Minors. Study areas include Goa in India, (soon Kerala), Chiang Mai and Song Khla in Thailand and Galle and Colombo in Sri Lanka.

IRISEM, or International Repository of Institutions against S**ual Exploitation of Minors is an electronic database, under the control of UNICRI, containing the most relevant institutions/organizations and their sharing of data, committed to contrast, reduce and prevent trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors around the world. In this, under civil aviation, it is proposed to make mandatory that airlines share data to help in fighting this crime.

Currently, the airlines Varig (Brazil), United and Continental (US), Thai Airways International (Thailand) and SriLankan (Sri Lanka) share data on this subject with UNICRI.

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Data supplied by these airlines is also matched with the Interpol Child Abuse Image Database (ICAID). Created in 2001, it contains hundreds of thousands of images of child sexual abuse submitted by member countries, thereby facilitating the sharing of images and information to assist law enforcement agencies with the identification of new victims and their perpetrators. (Source: Interpol)

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It is a totally different matter that conviction rates are very poor and low.

A recent example is the arrest of British pop star Gary Glitter of 1960s fame (probably in the same period as Mick Jagger) in Laos after detailed documentation and a sting operation in Cambodia. But his conviction is doubtful because of the poor judicial system in Cambodia. Interpol is now stepping in.

-- Edited by karatecatman at 01:24, 2006-08-11

karatecatman · Member

There was an article on this (rising paedophila and tourism from the West) in Outlook Magazine in early Feb 2006 (Don;t have the copy now). It was this article that talked of the paedophilia triangle (Goa, Kerala and Sri Lanka) with a major feed from the Thailand-Sri Lanka route.