Air India would start 11 new services in the Thiruvananthapuram-Gulf sector, linking Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, Air India Mananging Director V Thulasidas said on Wednesday.

The new services would be launched on February 18, he said in a brief chat with reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Thiruvananthapuram would soon be made an engineering base of Air India. The base would be set up as a Joint Venture between Boeing and Air India, he said. The company had offered to set up the aircraft maintenance-cum-training facility here, as Air India acquired a new fleet of aircraft from Boeing, Thulasidas said.

On reports of frequent flight delays, he said a lobby was working to spread false propaganda about Air India's services.

Air India was ready to operate more services to the Gulf from all three international airports in Kerala, he said. Thulasidas also said that Air India was often at the receiving end of criticism as it was in the public sector.

He dismissed as 'baseless', criticism that Air India failed to deliver the holy `zam zam' water to Haj returnees in time. It was due to regulations introduced by Saudi authorities, he said. All airline companies had to encounter the same problem, but only the `lapse' of Air India was highlighted.

Haj pilgrims had been informed in advance that their entire luggage could not be taken in the aircraft in which they travelled and the baggage was promptly delivered to them later, he said.

Thulasidas expressed hope that Air India would be the first airline to operate from the proposed Kannur airport once the project was completed.