NEW DELHI: In a major relief for Indians who need to travel between West Asia and India, Air India Express on Monday night announced resumption of operations from Tuesday to six major Indian cities. The Ministry of Civil Aviation announced that IndiGo will operate ten relief flights on March 3 to facilitate the return of stranded passengers from Jeddah on Tuesday.
The Ministry said this was subject to required approvals and prevailing airspace conditions. “IndiGo is coordinating with the Consulate General of India at Jeddah for passenger facilitation,” it said. The Ministry added that 357 flights were cancelled to and from West Asia on Monday.
In an official statement, Air India Express said it will resume flight operations to and from Muscat beginning March 3 with scheduled services to Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai and Tiruchirappalli. “The first Air India Express flight from Muscat will operate to Tiruchirappalli, departing at 10.25 hours local time,” said a spokesperson. Flight operations to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE remain suspended till 11.59 pm India time on Tuesday, he said.
Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport announced partial resumption of operations on Monday with Emirates alone permitted to operate while Indian airlines have been asked to specify their slots, said a top airline executive.
The Ministry in another statement said, “The situation in the Middle East region continues to be closely monitored to facilitate relief for passengers. The Ministry was closely monitoring passenger grievances through the Passenger Assistance Control Room and a total of 559 grievances have been received on Air Sewa.”
Air India said that it has commenced operations to its destinations in the USA, Canada and Europe. “We used the Egyptian route initially but are now going via the Saudi Arabia route,” a source said. Both Air India and IndiGo are yet to resume their scheduled operations to West Asia. Etihad has resumed operations from West Asia. One of its routes is to Delhi.
A top airline executive said that since Dubai International Airport had opened up partially on Monday, Indian airlines operating from there have been asked to reschedule their slots on a one by one basis. “We are doing that now since only limited slots are available.”
At Delhi airport, a total of 91 flights were cancelled on Monday on account of the ongoing crisis in West Asia. “A total of 52 arrivals and 39 departures were cancelled till 9 pm,” said an airport source.