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The Airlines will operate services thrice a week

Mangalore-Kuwait Air India operations resumed with the first flight of the season taking off from Mangalore International Airport on Monday at 7.30 am.

The Air India will operate flights thrice a week from Mangalore at 7.30 am and will reach Kuwait via Bahrain at 11.15 am (local time). On the return journey, it would depart from Kuwait at 12.15 pm (local time) and arrive here at 7.25 pm.

The flight will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. While the flight will stop at Bahrain on its onward journey, on its return journey it would arrive here directly.

Several NRI organisations in Kuwait had been demanding the Air India and Union government to restore the direct flight service between Mangalore and Kuwait.

Without the direct flights, the passengers were left with no option but to take a connecting flight from Mumbai.

MLA J R Jobo and his wife were among the passengers who boarded the flight from Mangalore.  Speaking to mediapersons, Lobo thanked Minister for Hajj, Information and Infrastructure Development Roshan Baig for supporting the cause.

Lobo said “a delegation led by Minister Roshan Baig had met the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India Express Rohit Nandan in Delhi in last August and had appraised him about the need for the Mangalore-Kuwait flight.

The CMD had promised to look into the issue. We had also met Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation G M Siddeshwar in this regard. Finally, the Air India had announced to resume flight operations to Kuwait in the month of August,” Lobo said.

In fact Air India had stopped its operation to Kuwait on February 13. In a press meet on February 26, Gulf NRI Forum (Kuwait) had urged the Deputy General of Civil Aviation,  to re start the flight or grant permission to private international airline operators to operate flights between Mangalore and Kuwait. It was causing  inconvenience to Non-Resident Indians in Gulf countries.

In a press release, MP Nalin Kumar has thanked the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju for re starting the flight.