Travel agents worried over Air India flights cancellation

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has expressed concern over the spate of cancellations of the Air India Express flights to Kuala Lumpur from Tiruchi this month and has appealed to the airline management and the Civil Aviation Minister to ensure that the flights were operated without any disruption in schedule. The airline had recently announced cancellation of flights for five days between November 1 and 13 on the Tiruchi-Kuala Lumpur sector citing ‘crew problems' – in an apparent reference to shortage of pilots.
Contending that Tiruchi was one of the “high profile stations” in terms of passenger traffic to destinations in the Gulf and South East Asia, M.S.Paramasivam, chairman, TAAI, South Tamil Nadu Chapter, said that the frequent cancellation of the flights to Kuala Lumpur by Air India Express has caused much hardship to the labourers travelling regularly on the sector as the airline offered competitive fares. The cancellation has left the passengers with no option but to fly with one of the foreign carriers to Kuala Lumpur.
Travel industry representatives also express apprehension that more flights on the sector could be cancelled in the coming days.
“We understand that more flights to Kuala Lumpur from here are likely to be cancelled up to February by the airline. This will hamper the growth of the city in terms of passenger movement and tourism promotion,” Mr.Paramasivam said.
11/11/11 S. Ganesan/The Hindu

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Categories: Air India Nov 2011