Air India Express service to Sharjah revives hopes of Trichy-Kuwait flight

Trichy: After a wait of over seven-years, Air India Express resumed its service on the Trichy-Sharjah sector recently. Thousands of Tamils who are employed in Kuwait are expecting the ministry of civil aviation to revive the service on the Trichy-Kuwait sector too to tap the ever-increasing patronage on this sector.
It has been more than six years since Indian Airlines withdrew its service on the Trichy-Kuwait sector (weekly twice) citing operational reasons.However, even after the Trichy international airport showed an upward trend in overseas passenger traffic to various destinations, including Kuwait, the government carrier is reluctant to revive the service.
Indian Airlines used to operate two flights to Kuwait from Trichy on Tuesdays and Saturdays. On Tuesdays the flight would leave Chennai for Kuwait via Trichy, Kozhikode and Fujairah. Likewise, the return flight would arrive here from Chennai on Saturdays and leave for Kuwait via Kozhikode and Ras-Al-Khaimah.
Indian Airlines said the revenue generated by operating the carrier was not enough even to meet the fuel cost. At the same time, the carrier introduced week- long services to Kuwait from Chennai via Goa, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad and another service between Kuwait and Kozhikode. However, the carrier has no plan to revive the service though thousands of people in Trichy and surrounding districts are employed in Kuwait.
SriLankan Airlines is the only option for Kuwait-bound passengers in Trichy, but they find the rates exorbitant.
Khaleel Bhaqavi, vice-president, Kuwait-Tamil Islamic Community (K-Tic), functioning from Kuwait, said that for Tamils employed in Kuwait, travelling to their native place during the festival season is an ordeal. They have to shell out huge amounts to buy the tickets as there is no direct connectivity.
"Since many Tamils working here are in low-paid jobs such as drivers, housemaids, etc, they are forced to skip their travel plans because of the exorbitant fares. We are hoping Air India Express will resume direct services between Trichy and Kuwait," he said.
When contacted, Trichy airport director K Gunasekaran said the earlier service was withdrawn as there was no patronage on this sector. However, the situation has entirely changed now.
"I have written to Air India Express authorities explaining the need to restore the terminated service and made a similar request to the civil aviation minister. I hope the authorities would take a positive approach," he said.