The move of the national carrier to cancel flights of its low cost carrier Air India Express (AIE) from Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode to the destinations in West Asia between September 17 and October 12 has come in for criticism. The decision to cancel nine flights – five from Thiruvananthapuram and four from Kozhikode – was intimated to the local offices as the national carrier wants to withdraw two Boeing 737-800 aircraft of the AIE to ferry Haj pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, reportedly at the instance of Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh.
The flights that were shortlisted for cancellation were Kozhikode-Dammam (three), Kochi-Kozhikode-Kuwait, Thiruvananthapuram-Sharjah (two) and three in the Thiruvananthapuram-Dubai sector.
Airline sources said the cancellation of the flights of the budget carrier would cause undue hardship to Non-Resident Keralites who had booked their tickets in advance to Dammam, Kuwait, Sharjah and Dubai as there were no alternative flights to the destinations.
Following the opposition, the airline has decided to restore the IX 535 flights from Thiruvananthapuram to Sharjah on September 17 and 19. However, the airline is yet to take a decision on the restoration of IX 5377 flights from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and other flights. A proposal is to use the IC 465 flight that arrives daily from New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi at 9.45 p.m. to operate the flights from the State capital to Dubai on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article3903253.ece
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