Air India
(AI) will introduce a special discount package for Indians returning to the
country on the amnesty scheme initiated by the UAE government for all illegal
residents, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation K.C. Venugopal has said.
The details of the package, to be in force from January, were
being worked out. Even though the scheme was launched in December, the number
of Indians availing it seemed to be low. We expect the rush to start by
January, he said.
On his Ministry’s expansion plans, Mr. Venugopal said a
complaint redressal cell for Gulf passengers would function from his office in
New Delhi.
Complaints cell
The complaints may be mailed to ixmailstominister@nic.in
Officials concerned would respond to the complaints in a week of its receipt,
he said.
The operations of Air India Express (AIE) would be shifted
completely to Kochi by January. The heads of departments would be available in
Kochi regularly.
A centralised customer feedback cell would also function here.
Keralites will get feedback on various aspects related to AIE in Malayalam.
Personnel would be deployed exclusively for customer relations work in
Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode airports, he said.
Claiming that the performance of AIE had improved in the last
two months, Mr. Venugopal said passenger load had gone up to 75 per cent in the
Gulf sector.
The shortage of pilots in AIE would be resolved in four months.
A meeting would be held in Thiruvananthapuram on December 24 and
in Kozhikode on January 10 to evaluate the ongoing expansion and consolidation
plans of AIE, he said. The Pawan Hans helicopter services company had held
discussions with the State government and Cochin International Airport Ltd
(CIAL) to start services between Kochi, Guruvayoor, and Sabarimala. We plan to
launch the services on a pilot basis soon, Mr. Venugopal said.
The Director General of Civil Aviation and the Defence and Home
Departments had cleared the Kannur airport proposal.
An environment public hearing would be held on December 18.
Asked whether the Kerala government’s plans to launch its own airline, Air
Kerala, would take off in the near future, the Minister said the government had
requested waiver of conditions including the clause that an airline should have
successfully operated in the domestic sector for five years before starting
international operations. Discussions on such requests had to be taken up at
the highest level, he said.
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