State intervention sought to reduce air fare

The Pravasi Welfare Forum wants the government to intervene and have air fares reduced so that the Onam vacation for Malayalis in the Gulf and other countries do not turn sour.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, forum convener Aslam Cheruvady alleged that the airline companies operating services between Kerala and the Gulf countries were fleecing people who were on their much-awaited Onam vacation.

He wanted the companies to roll back the steep hike in the fares, and the government should step in to ensure that the fares were reduced.

Fall in fuel price

Mr. Aslam alleged that despite a fall in the price of aviation fuel in the international market, the airliners had chosen to raise the fares by four times, instead of keeping at a reasonable level.

Stating that this was a challenge thrown by the companies at expatriates, he said that a meeting of his forum had called upon similar organisations to come out strongly in protest against the fare hikes.