Expats give a slip to M'luru, fly from Kannur airport to save time, money

Mangaluru: With the requests to change the inconvenient flight timings at Mangaluru airport eliciting no response, many from the city who work in Kuwait and Bahrain are using the 10-month-old Kannur International Airport , 150 kilometre away from the city, instead of Mangaluru airport to travel to Gulf countries.

If one asks about the benefits of using an airport 150 km away, the expats have an answer—apart from saving lot of money, they can choose from daily flights instead of just three flights in a week from the Gulf to Mangaluru. This apart, they will get convenient timings and save the number of days as well.

After the bankrupt Jet Airways was grounded, Air India Express is the only airline that operates to Bahrain and Kuwait from MIA. The Air India Express flight from Mangaluru via Bahrain to Kuwait operates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It departs at 6.35 am from MIA, and arrives at Kuwait around 10am. The flight from Kuwait leaves around 11.20 am, and lands at MIA at around 7pm.

Santosh Kumar Shetty, who used to travel with his wife and two children from Kuwait to Mangaluru, said he could save nearly Rs 40,000 in a single journey by landing in Kannur. “After landing at Kannur airport, I booked a taxi to reach my home in Mangaluru, which cost me nearly Rs 4,000. The flight was as per my convenience and I also saved two days (to and fro),” said Shetty. The journey to Mangaluru from Kannur, takes around 3 hours.

Whereas Anil, a resident of Neermarga in the city, who had to report to work in Kuwait on a short notice, reached Kannur airport by taking a train. “The one way flight was available for just Rs 8,000. It was feasible as I had to report to work on a particular day. Even my other friends are thinking of the same,” he told TOI. The flights from Kannur also allows more luggage, he added.

Mohandas M Kamath, another expat in Kuwait, said that like Santosh Shetty and Anil, many from Mangaluru are travelling to Kannur airport instead of Mangaluru airport, which has several benefits besides saving money. Those who travel in groups do car-pooling after landing in Kannur and travel to Mangaluru.

Another expat alleged that Air India Express, which claims to be a low-budget airline, has never been cheap, and is overpriced. “Most of the passengers feel that the timing of the flight to Kuwait is inconvenient. It makes them lose two days of their precious leaves as they travel to Mangaluru on short vacations for one week or for a month, maximum. Another inconvenience is that since international passengers have to reach three hours prior to departure, all those travellers from MIA have to leave their houses in the early hours. It’s still worse for those who travel from far-off places like Kasaragod, Uttara Kannada and Kodagu, who have to start their journey in the midnight to reach airport.”

Some are also taking flights to Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, from the Gulf, to reach Mangaluru, said sources.

Memorandum submitted

Various organisations from Kuwait and Bahrain had submitted a memorandum, twice, and had requested Nalin Kumar Kateel to shift the timings to night. The two GCC countries, Bahrain and Kuwait, have more than 3 lakh expats from undivided Dakshina Kananda.

Members of Buntara Sangha Kuwait suggested that flights should depart from Kuwait at 10pm (local time) and departure from MIA should be at 7pm (local time). The Tulu Koota Kuwait, requested additional flights on Thursday evening. “Changes in the flight schedule would greatly help the people of rural areas, who depend on MIA to reach destination and also for the effective use of their hard-earned holidays with families,” they said in the memorandum.

With many opting Kannur instead of Mangaluru, porters and taxi operators are losing their livelihood.

No effect, says director

As per the data available, international passenger movement in MIA has dipped to 26% compared to last August. Last August, nearly 70,373 passengers flew whereas only 51,920 international passengers used the airport this year. Even domestic passenger movement has seen a negative growth of 14.8% in August. In total, both domestic and international passenger movement has seen 18.7% negative growth.

V V Rao, airport director, MIA said that he is aware that many people are using Kannur airport due to cheaper fare and convenient timings. “However, this hasn’t affected passenger traffic. As Jet Airways, which earlier operated 13 flights daily, has resulted in poor passenger flow and the slot it had occupied is not taken by anyone so far. The Mangaluru airport is not at all lost to Kannur. The particular flight operator has to take a call on change of timings,” he said.