Kerala is likely to have its first flight direct connection to Europe. The German carrier Lufthansa has reportedly responded positively to an offer by the Cochin International Airport Limited to commence a direct service from Kochi to Frankfurt.

Last week, the airline’s Director for South Asia Axel Hilgers visited Kochi and held discussions with representatives of CIAL and other stake-holders in the state’s travel industry. The visit follows a preliminary discussion between the carrier and Airport Company held earlier. The carrier now needs to conduct an independent feasibility study and calculate the yield factor before making a final decision, it is learnt.

CIAL has already announced a slew of concessions in terms of airport charges as an incentive for the carrier to commence service. It has also requested hotels to give concessional rates to the crew of European carriers opening routes to Kochi. As of now, passengers from Kerala are connected to Europe or North America through other Indian airports or Middle-Eastern destinations like Qatar or Dubai.

The annual average outbound movements to Europe from the three Kerala airports stands around 1.68 lakh while that to the U.S.A is about 0.92 lakh. Lufthansa was impressed by the figures, which, in turn, suggested enough passengers to fill wide-bodied aircraft to be deployed for long-haul services. The daily average passenger movement to Europe is estimated to be around 456 while for the United States it is around 258.