Disappointment as Air India Express suspends Mangalore-Kuwait direct flights

Disappointment as Air India Express suspends Mangalore-Kuwait direct flights

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Feb 14, 2014:  There will be no direct flight services between Mangalore and Kuwait henceforth.  The last Air India Express flight  carrying passengers from Kuwait landed at the Mangalore International Airport  on February 13, Thursday morning.

The suspension of direct flight services on this sector has been a  big jolt to  several Tuluvas and Kannadigas from the coastal region who are settled in Kuwait.

Air India Express was operating flight on the route three times a week since the past one and a half years. Flights from Mangalore used to operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, while  the flights used to leave from Kuwait the next day. The passenger traffic on the sector was also quite significant.

The suspension of the flight services has been a  great  disappointer for several organisations in Mangalore as well as Kuwait which had put in much efforts to pressurise the authorities to start the flight services on the route.

Shortage of aircrafts: But Air India Express sources say shortage of aircrafts was the reason for the suspension of the flight services. But, the fact is that the Air India Express never suffered losses on this sector as most of the flights were  packed to capacity and according to sources the flights were also running full even during off season.

It has been learnt that though several foreign  airlines firms had evinced interest in operating flights from Mangalore, the  Civil Aviation Ministry had paid no heed to the same. If Air India Express cannot operate flights on the sector, then why cannot it allow foreign airlines to operate on the route, question many.

At the same time, many even question how the Air India Express which was facing shortage of aircrafts was operating flights on the Kuwait-Kozhikode route?