Thiruvananthapuram: The proposal put forward by the customs department to shift domestic services from the international terminal to the domestic terminal at Shankumugham is a setback for the Thiruvananthapuram airport. This will mainly affect the domestic services operated by Air India Express.

Due to this, the proposed Air India Thiruvananthapuram-Kozhikode  service now remains suspended. The customs department placed this proposal after the booking for this new service began. This service was started owing to the demands of passengers.

Air India express operates domestic services from the International terminal at Chaka here. Apart from the newly announced Kozhikode service, Air India express services are also running to Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kannur. The Air India Delhi flight departing from here is always filled to capacity. It is a very convenient service for those travelling for official purposes and the flight reaches Delhi before 10 AM.

If the customs department insists on shifting the domestic services to the domestic terminal, these services will be in crisis.  Air India does not have the required ground staff or other facilities at  the domestic terminal. There is a distance of six and a half kilometres between the two terminals.

Air India operates 45 international services from Thiruvananthapuram. There are relatively fewer services in the domestic sector. The top officials say that allocating staff just for domestic services is not practical.

A spokesperson of the Adani group which manages the Thiruvananthapuram airport pointed out that a proposal to create a special zone for domestic passengers at the international terminal in Thiruvananthapuram has been submitted to the centre and is awaiting approval by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. They hope to get the permission in a week or two which will prove to be a solution for this problem.