The Kerala Association of Travel Agents (KATA) has alleged that 380 services of Air India and Air India Express (AIE) from the state were cancelled with the AIE winter schedule coming into effect from October 28. In a statement here on Tuesday, KATA president K V Muralidharan said that 12 services from Thiruvananthapuram and seven from Kochi, in total 19 a week, were absent in the new schedule.
The cancelled services from the capital include four flights to Muscat and two each to Bahrain, Doha, Dammam and Riyadh. Three flights to Dammam, and two each to Riyadh and Jeddah were those cancelled from Kochi, the statement said.
The winter schedule has completely ignored the requirement to the Saudi sector, KATA said. A total of 11 services were cancelled from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports. The fares to the sector are already exorbitant and range between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000, it said.
As per the DGCA guidelines, three month prior notice is required for effecting changes in airline schedules. Unfortunately, AIE gave only three weeks time, allegedly to benefit the private carriers, it said. The Association also sought Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s intervention to reinstate the schedules.
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