The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Non-availability of seats on flights to Gulf

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 05, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Non-availability of seats on flights to Gulf

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

Over 10,000 passengers stranded in the State

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: : Over 10,000 persons bound for various destinations in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman have been stranded due to non-availability of seats in the flights operating from the Thiruvananthapuram international airport to the Gulf sector.

Overbooked

All the flights, including those of Air-India and Indian Airlines, bound for Gulf countries, from here are overbooked.

"No seat is available in the flights operating to the Gulf sector till September 15," a senior airline official told The Hindu.

The disruption of flights from Mumbai owing to flooding of the runway has aggravated the situation.

The worst-affected are those who came for vacation in the 30-odd additional flights, including to Thiruvananthapuram, operated by Indian Airlines between May 15 and June 15 from the Gulf.

Many non-resident Keralites face the risk of losing their jobs. Those stranded hail from the southern districts of the State and Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu. Heavy rush is being witnessed in the airline offices with many running helter-skelter to manage a seat.

Likely to worsen

The situation is likely to turn to worse in the coming days, as educational institutions in the Gulf countries will reopen in the last week of August after vacation.

Taking advantage of the demand for seats, the airlines have started hiking the fare to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Two Gulf-based foreign airlines have hiked the fare from Rs.5,500 to the range of Rs.11,500-14,800. Sources said other foreign airlines operating to the capital would follow suit in the coming days.

AI to increase fare soon

Air-India is also learnt to have decided to increase the fare from Rs.6,500 to the UAE sector to Rs.16,050. Indian Airlines, which operates flights from here to Sharjah, is also learnt to have decided to hike the fare to Rs.14,500. Airport sources said the DGCA fare for various airlines, except AI and IA, to the destinations in the UAE till July 15 was only Rs.5,500.

The airlines can hike the fare up to Rs.19,330, which is the IATA fare, for Dubai and Abu Dhabi. AI sources said: "They are not hiking the fare, but charging the published fare (IATA fare)."

The efforts of AI to operate 10 additional flights to Dubai and IA to fly 8 additional flights to Sharjah had not met with success. Over the years, AI had operated 20 additional flights during the same period. "We are trying to get additional flights, but have not got any commitment," AI sources said.

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