The National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) has decided to restore the cancelled 300 Air India Express (AIE) flights from Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Mangalore airports to five Gulf destinations.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting the Chairman and Managing Director of NACIL, Arvind Jadhav, had with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Nassim Zaidi, in New Delhi on Tuesday night, an official of the NACIL told The Hindu .
The airline had announced cancellation of the Air India Express flights from September 7 to October end to Sharjah, Dubai, Abudhabi, Muscat and Kuwait citing shortage of cabin crew and tough regulations of the DGCA following the Mangalore air crash.
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According to the official, the NACIL has also decided to operate additional flights to the five sectors in the Gulf to cater to the demands of the Non-Resident Keralites. “We will ensure that the flyers of the AIE do not face any inconvenience. The airline will deploy wide-bodied aircraft like Airbus 330 to the five Gulf destinations if there is load’, he said.
The decision had been taken in view of the sentiments expressed by the Chief Minister, V. S. Achuthanandan, and others following the decision to cancel the flights of the budget carrier. The cancellations had also led to widespread protest from the political parties, NORKs and the travel trade. The Air India office at Kozhikode was also attacked by the DYFI activists on Monday.