Srinagar-Dubai flight grounded, permanently

Srinagar: The much-hyped Srinagar-Dubai flight seems to have lost its wings, once and for all.
The flight, which was withdrawn from January this year in the wake of poor passenger response, is unlikely to be restored despite the state government’s repeated requests to the Ministry of Civil Aviation to get it restored in the public interest. Sources said the Ministry had recently asked the Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air-India, to explain why the service, which had brought Srinagar on the international aviation map, was withdrawn and why it can’t be restored.
In response, the airline authorities categorically refused to resume the service in near future on the pretext that it was not a “commercially viable venture.” The Ministry move followed the outcry by a couple of Parliament Members from Jammu and Kashmir that the airliner should immediately restore the service, which was launched with much fanfare by the United Progressive Alliance chairperson, Sonia Gandhi in Srinagar on February 14, 2009.
The Air India Express has also written that it had made some “alterations” in the flight route-plan to make it more viable, but failed. “The airliner also responded in the same parlance to representations made by the state MPs on restoration of the service,” the sources said. When contacted, a top Air India Express officer ruled out resumption of Dubai-Srinagar flight.
18/05/10 Faheem Aslam/Greater Kashmir

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Categories: Air India Budget May 2010, Airports May 2010, Foreign May 2010, NACIL May 2010