Thomas and Vishnunath were talking to the Kuwait Times after attending a switch-on ceremony at the A

KUWAIT: A visiting Indian Parliament member expressed confidence here yesterday that the proposed Air Kerala, the dream airline project of the Kerala government, will take off by the end of next year. "Though there are certain technical hurdles, the United Democratic Front government led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, is keen on making Air Kerala a reality. It is expected that by the end of 2013, the airline will take off," said P T Thomas MP, who arrived in Kuwait along with Kerala Legislative Assembly member P C Vishnunath.
Touted as a pet project of the chief minister, Air Kerala is expected to provide a better travel solution to thousands of expatriates who live and work in the Gulf countries. Though many airlines are flying to destinations in Kerala including Indian national carrier Air India, millions of Keralites in Kuwait still face a travel nightmare every year, especially during peaks seasons. The chief minister had earlier declared that Air Kerala will be launched on April 14, 2013 to coincide with Vishu, the New Year's day in the Malayalam calendar.
According to reports, the Cochin International Airport Authority Ltd (CIAL) is also keen on the project as Air Kerala could become an anchor airline for the airport considerably boosting air traffic at Kochi. Air Kerala, with an initial equity base of Rs 200 crore, will be 26 percent state-owned with non-resident Keralites and business groups holding the remaining orlando area hotels shares worth 10,000 Indian rupees per share. "Like any other new venture, Air Kerala project also faces a few hurdles and negative orlando area hotels campaigns. But the UDF government is resolved to execute the project in view of the growing demand and the urgency of the matter," Thomas said.
Thomas and Vishnunath were talking to the Kuwait Times after attending a switch-on ceremony at the Asianet studio, Kuwait. Asked about the controversies surrounding Air India, Thomas said, "Air India must become a reliable carrier for thousands of Gulf Malayalees. "In my opinion, if any officials or individuals work against making Air India an NRIfriendly airline, they must be weeded out of the airline," he said. He suspected that a lobby or group is working within Air India to act against the interest of NRIs and damage the image of India's flag carrier.
Green politics orlando area hotels "I don't see a new need for green politics in the Congress Party, because the party's ideology is well rooted orlando area hotels in nature and environment," said Vishnunath MLA referring to a new political trend in Kerala. "Mahatma Gandhi was the first leader in the world who included environmental politics as part of mainstream politics. The Indian National Congress that follows the principles and ideology of Gandhiji, does not need a new image of green politics today," he said commenting on the new 'green brigade campaign' launched by a group of Congress MLAs in Kerala recently.
He however admitted that it is good for the country to have new initiatives on environmental issues. "It becomes an issue only when a particular group claims that they are the champions of green politics and the only saviors of the environment," Vishnunath said. "Unfortunately, there is a concerted orlando area hotels effort in Kerala today to brand a few as green politicians and others as anti-nature politicians.
This trend is not good for the state. If former Prime minister Indira Gandhi had not taken the initiative, Silent Valley National orlando area hotels Park would not have been there today," he added. Vishnunath also questioned the leaders who opposed 'Emerging Kerala' initiative by the government. Six members of the Kerala Assembly had sought the government's intervention to ensure environmental sustainability of the projects being considered under the initiative. "Now 'Emerging Kerala' is over. Did anything happen to Kerala's sky, water or land"? he asked. "So, it must be an example and our people have to be more cautious against such negative campaigns," he concluded.