ONLINE CAMPAIGN FOR FOREIGN FLIGHTS

Kozhikode: Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) living in the Gulf nations have launched an online signature campaign requesting Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel to permit foreign airlines to operate services to and from the Calicut airport at Karipur.

Hundreds of people have responded to the petition posted by the UAE-based Pravasi Bandu Welfare Trust on www.petitiononline.com, a web site hosting petitions for responsible public advocacy free.

“The petition was posted at 3 p.m. on Saturday. We are receiving new signatures each minute,” K.V. Shamsudheen, chairman of the trust, said. He said the airport was made an international airport on February 2, 2006. However, no steps had been initiated to improve infrastructure.

The Airports Authority of India had provided a lighting system for the airport’s runway for the first time in India on recommendations of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation. The system had been in service for night operations since October 2003, Mr. Shamsudheen said.

A 15,000-sq.m international arrival terminal had been opened to passengers, similar to the modern, spacious international departure terminal that became operational on May 14, 2007. As many as 240 international flights operated from the airport a week. The annual number of international passengers was more than half a million, he said.

‘Cash cow’


The airport and its passengers had been a “cash cow” for Air India Express and Indian owing to the patronage of NRIs from the Gulf countries. So, these airlines decided that no other international airline companies should operate from the airport and share their profits.

Delayed flights and passenger abuse, both by airline and customs authorities, happened daily, Mr. Shamsudheen alleged.

Operators keen

Many foreign airlines, including budget ones, were eagerly waiting to operate services from the airport. The Centre had given permission for foreign airlines to land in Pune, Nagpur and Coimbatore airports, though these had only a few international passengers, flights and facilities.

He said the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation recently permitted Jet Airways to fly to a few Gulf destinations. But to protect the monopoly of Air India Express and Indian, the Ministry did not give the private airline permission to fly to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which had the largest Keralite population.

Lower fares

The fear of Air India and Indian that competition and low airfare would affect their business made no sense, as a study by the trust found that lower fares made expatriates fly more often, and the airlines would flourish. “We also feel that competition will improve services and benefit end users in a big way,” Mr. Shamsudheen said.