Four Air India Express aircraft stationed at the Karipur international airport since 2007 and operating 50 flights a week from that airport have been asked to move out temporarily to accommodate Haj charter flights from Saudi Airlines.
Sources in Karipur said the airport director was under tremendous political pressure to move the AIE aircraft out and had written to Air India asking whether it could find alternate parking. The biggest problem behind erratic AIE flights is the unavailability of crew, especially with the strict enforcement of flight time limitations -- a pilot needs to get a minimum of 10 hours rest between flights. Here there is also the question of the huge loss such a movement of aircraft would cause an already ailing airliner.
05/10/12 Sangeetha Nair/Times of India
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Sources in Karipur said the airport director was under tremendous political pressure to move the AIE aircraft out and had written to Air India asking whether it could find alternate parking. The biggest problem behind erratic AIE flights is the unavailability of crew, especially with the strict enforcement of flight time limitations -- a pilot needs to get a minimum of 10 hours rest between flights. Here there is also the question of the huge loss such a movement of aircraft would cause an already ailing airliner.
05/10/12 Sangeetha Nair/Times of India
