By Kavita Mistry 
Thiruvananthapuram International Airport may get direct flights to Thailand and Vietnam soon as the authorities have started discussions with airlines and other officials concerned.
An airport official said that discussions were ongoing with the respective authorities to start direct flights to these destinations due to high demand. Airlines have expressed interest in increasing frequency and adding new destinations from the city, he added.
Travel and tour operators said that there was an increase in people from the state visiting Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. A direct flight to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam will be useful for travellers because most of them combine Vietnam and Cambodia.
The move to attract more airlines to operate direct flights was to improve connectivity, reduce travel time and boost tourism and business, said an official.
Currently, travellers fly to these destinations from Kochi or from Thiruvananthapuram via Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. The direct flight will take only five hours, while connecting flights increase the travel time to more than 10 hours due to the transit time.
The airport now has direct flights to Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sharjah, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Dammam and the Maldives.
According to the airport officials, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani met general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and expressed interest in contributing to the transformative journey of the country in energy logistics, ports and aviation.
The airport is projected to see an increase in international passengers to 3.96 million by 2030. This is likely to increase to 5.32 million in 2040 and 11.45 million in 2070.
