Following India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) decision to reduce the duty timings of pilots who fly in the wee hours of morning, Air India Express will reduce the number of flights to India from Salalah International Airport due to the shortage of pilots which will result from the decision. The decision will come into effect from February 15.
Mohit Sen, country manager of Air India Express told Muscat Daily that the number of flights to Indian destinations has come down to two. He also ruled out any increase in flights from the Muscat International Airport.
The airline has flights only to Kerala in India from Salalah.
From February 15, the Indian national carrier will stop its daily flights from Salalah to Thiruvananthapuram following the revision in pilots' working hours. Its two flights a week from Salalah to Kozhikode have been cut down to one.
There will be one flight to Kochi on Thursdays and one on Fridays to Kozhikode.
The decision has put expatriates from the Indian state of Kerala in a bind. Those in Salalah will now have to travel to Muscat to board a flight home. They would be required to either make a 10-hour drive to Muscat or take a flight to the Muscat International Airport for their onward journey to India.
"Air India Express' decision to reduce flights from Salalah will affect residents here. Now, we will have to depend on the Muscat airport to reach our destinations in India," said Antony E J, a long time resident of Salalah.
Meanwhile, politicians in India have voiced their support for the expatriate community in the Gulf. Ommen Chandy, the Kerala chief minister, said in a media statement on Sunday that he will take up the matters with concerned authorities in India.
© Muscat Daily 2012
