The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Tamils decry cancellation of Tiruchi

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Tamil Nadu

Tamils decry cancellation of Tiruchi–Sharjah flight

Syed Muthahar Saqaf

One day’s leave is wasted because of the odd timing of Dubai-Tiruchi flight

HARD CHOICE: Passengers are hit after the discontinuation of Tiruchi-Sharjah flight.

DUBAI: The Tamil community settled down in United Arab Emirates has decried the sudden cancellation of the Chennai-Tiruchi-Sharjah flight of Air India by the end of last month citing route rationalisation by the airline.

“It was a wrong decision taken by the airline. This move has hit a large number of people of the central and southern districts of Tamil Nadu employed in the five northern Emirates of the UAE,” observed a cross section of the people. They demanded the immediate restoration of the service.

The daily service on this route, which had been one of the successful services of Air India in the past, was withdrawn apparently owing to the poor load factor on the Tiruchi-Sharjah segment. Though Air India Express is operating the Chennai-Tiruchi-Dubai service daily, many feel that the timings are not convenient to the people returning home.

The Dubai-Tiruchi Air India Express leaves here at 6 p.m. and the people have to report at the airport at 3 p.m., due to which they will be wasting a day’s leave.

The Sharjah-Tiruchi flight used to leave at 9.30 p.m. and the people could reach their homes in Tamil Nadu even before their leave commenced the next day.

A large number of Tamil labour workers are employed in the five Northern Emirates of Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Qailwan, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaima and Sharjah airport was a very convenient boarding point for them. Now they have to come to the always congested Dubai airport to board the Air India Express, braving the serious traffic congestion on the Dubai roads.

Since Air-India Express is a budget airline, re-routing and revalidation are not allowed even during emergencies. Moreover, the ticket fare from Dubai-Tiruchi is higher than the ticket fare from Dubai to Chennai via Tiruchi.

“Air Arabia has planned to introduce daily flight service from the UAE to Tiruchi shortly, taking into consideration the traffic potential in this sector. It is surprising that Air India has withdrawn this very useful flight service citing poor patronage at this juncture,” observed Duraisamy Ganesan of Perambalur district and Mr. S. A. Munavary of Tiruchi city, both employed in a ceramic factory in Fujairah.

If Air India is not inclined to re-introduce this service, then the timing of the Air India Express should be rescheduled so as to leave Dubai at 9 p.m., so that the people could save a day’s holiday, they added.

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