Gulf passengers hit hard by AI strike

KOZHIKODE/KOCHI: The passengers to the Gulf countries have been hit hard by the ongoing Air India strike. For Mehmud and Ismail bound for Dubai from Karipur, not many options were left. Either cancel the ticket and take another one or wait to see if Air India arranges another flight. But buying a ticket in another airlines will cost more.

Air India Express has the cheapest fare. Now a normal ticket costs Rs 2000 more than the charge for the same in Air India. Both men were confused. They hoped to get help from Union Minister Mullappally Ramachandran, but the announcement came that he would be coming late. There was no time to lose and the frustrated men headed to the Air India counter to check the alternative arrangement.

Just like them, hundreds of Gulf passengers are suffering due to the ongoing strike by a section of Air India pilots.

In the last three days, Air India's daily flights to Dubai and Sharjah (AI 937 and AI 997) from Kozhikode were cancelled. Though 280 passengers were supposed to travel by one flight, only one additional flight having a capacity of 186 passengers was pressed into service till Saturday noon. According to Shanavas Gaffer, branch manager of a leading travel agency, a Jumbo aircraft is likely to be pressed into service on Sunday covering Dubai and Sharjah to meet the emergency. But there is no official confirmation regarding this.

However, no Air India Express flights starting from Kozhikode were cancelled till Saturday evening.

As almost all the domestic flights of Air India were badly affected in Kerala on Saturday, an official spokesperson of Air India said in Kochi that the domestic passengers were given the option of either re-booking or full refund of the ticket charge.

The domestic flights from Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram were cancelled, including flights to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. One international flight to Sharjah was cancelled, but the passengers were shifted to the Air India Express.

Efforts were on to accommodate the domestic passengers in other carriers, if seats were available. The bookings on domestic flights have been cancelled for the next five days. Domestic passengers are now opting for other carriers.

Two flights from Kozhikode to Sharjah were cancelled and all the passengers were taken to Duabi on a special flight. He pointed out that there is no backlog of Gulf passengers anywhere in Kerala as the last flight with a capacity of 180 persons took off with 155 passengers only.

The backlog is being cleared with the help of additional flights. There are some flights which have return journey after a gap of 10 hours and these carriers were pressed into service as additional flights wherever needed. Air India Express operates 21 flights in India and all are being operated to clear the rush.

Air India is meeting the demand of all the international passengers and now for the 10 seats which are blocked by Air India there are around 50 hits on the website to find the availability. When the tickets are open for Gulf countries, they are sold in half-an-hour. The market has not reacted negatively to Air India Express as all the scheduled services are operating with full strength.

Cochin International Airport Ltd managing director A C K Nair said that around 500 domestic passengers are affected in Kochi daily due to the strike.