In welcome news for airline passengers in Kerala, 39 new domestic services will commence from airports in the state, officials announced. The decision is the result of a meeting held by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with CEOs of various airline companies.

The airline operators informed the state government on Monday that they are ready to start operating new domestic services, according to a press release from the Chief Minister’s Office.

Out of the 39 new domestic services, 23 of them will be from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, it stated. Various reports had stated that there was a dip in the number of services from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport over the past few months. The recent decision comes as a huge relief for people in southern districts of Kerala, who primarily depend on the Thiruvananthapuram airport.

According to the official statement, Air India and Vistara will have one new service each, Air Asia will have seven new services, Spice Jet will have eight and the highest number services will be offered by GoAir with 22 new ones. While Indigo is looking to operate three new services, it will be subject to a decision on Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) tax.

The state government had earlier slashed the ATF tax. According to reports, the Kerala CM stressed this point while pitching to airline operators to start new services.

According to report by The New Indian Express, the services of Indigo will be from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Meanwhile, GoAir will operate from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai, Kannur, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, as well as Kannur to Delhi. It will also have services from Goa along with Kochi to Delhi services.

Air Asia’s new services will launch between Kochi and Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad; it will also have services from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The report also states that Vistara’s new service will be from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi, while Air India from Kannur.