Airfare hike affects passengers to Gulf
By James Paul | 18 Apr 2002
Kochi: The recent fare hike of airlines in the Kerala-Gulf sector has affected the passenger traffic to Kochi from this sector, say airline sources. The passenger traffic has come down by 15 per cent after the fares were increased.
Over 35 lakh Malayalees working in the region will have to pay Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000 more in one way alone depending on the distance and the class in which they are travelling.
According to the sources, the hike has been introduced to maintain the profit of the airlines sales agents. Mostly, agents offer discounts on fares to the passengers in this sector. But the agents will be charged tax on the actual fare, which substantially reduces their profit.
They said to offset this the airlines operating in this sector had jointly decided to hike fares an amount between the actual fare and the fare after giving discounts. While some airlines like Air-India have effected the change from 1 April 2002, the remaining ones have hiked their fares from 15 April 2002.
But Indian Airlines, which operates daily flights in this sector from Kochi and Kozhikode and four flights a week from Thiruvananthapuram, claims that its fares are still lower than other airlines.
The sources said the Dubai Shopping Festival and the vacation time in Kerala are bringing good business to the airlines now. All the flights in the sector are operated with 70-80-per cent load factor. But the frequent rise in airfares is draining out most of the earnings of the poorly paid non-resident Indians from the state.
The experimental Kochi-Gulf passenger ship service, operated for a month nearly a year ago, was a relief for them. But the service could not be continued following the Afghan War. The Non-Resident Keralites Welfare Department has floated a global tender to resume the service.
