Air-India to consider cutting fares to Middle East By Sanu George, Indo-Asian News Service
Thiruvananthapuram, July 1 (IANS) Air-India has agreed to consider cutting airfares to the Middle East from Kerala's three international airports, a state minister said Monday. Minister for Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) M.M. Hassan said the country's flag-carrier had agreed to consider this long-standing demand of Kerala, which has a large population of expatriates, mostly working in the Gulf countries. "Roy Paul, the civil aviation secretary and chief of Air-India, in a telephonic conversation with me 10 days ago, said they are looking into this issue," Hassan told IANS. T.N. Prathapan, a legislator of the ruling Congress party who raised this issue in the assembly Monday, said: "If they (Air-India) are not going to mend their ways, we should take a decision to boycott Air-India. "There is a strong lobby of Air-India working with certain foreign carriers on this issue and the situation today is that passengers have to wait for two months before they get confirmed seats," alleged Prathapan. The travel trade in Kerala claims a Mumbai lobby is responsible for keeping fares to the Middle East from this state much higher than from the country's commercial capital so that it would continue to get more traffic. Said K.V. Muraleedharan, the president of the Kerala Association of Travel Agents: "Air-India is neglecting certain airports in Kerala, especially the one here. Despite all the arrangements made for night landing and the arrival of the Jumbo Jet, Air-India has failed to utilise this. "There is a big lobby supporting Air-India in this. The Air-India office here has also been downgraded and several officials have been transferred from here," he said. There are also disparities between fares from Kerala's international airports. Passengers flying from Kochi and Kozhikode on Air-India to Dubai and Abu Dhabi are charged Rs.11,400 while the fare from Thiruvananthapuram to the same destinations is Rs.8,000. "A return ticket to Dubai from here costs Rs.18,690 and the distance is 3,660 miles (5,890 km) while a return ticket to New York from here, which is a distance of 17,500 miles (28,163 km), costs Rs.52,000. Is this fair?" asked Prathapan. Keralites claim Air-India is fleecing them as a return trip to Doha from here costs around Qatari riyals 3,000 while a return ticket to New York from Doha is just 6,660 riyals, though the distance is three times more. K.P. Rajendaran, the opposition Communist Party of India (CPI) in the assembly, demanded that the government reintroduce ship services from the Middle East. A Bahrain-based company had launched such a service last year, but it was scrapped as it did not meet safety regulations. The two trips the ship made saw 100 percent occupancy because of the low fare. Hassan responded saying the public enterprise Kerala State Inland Navigation and Shipping Services Company is keen to launch a ship service. "At the Global Investors Meet in November, we are showcasing this as one of the possible investment projects," he said. --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
