Thiruvananthapuram, April 22 (IANS) Flagging a deepening travel crisis in West Asia and its growing impact on Indian expatriates, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has written to Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu on Wednesday, urging immediate intervention to ease the hardships faced by Indian expatriates, particularly Keralites, who are stranded or are struggling to travel amid widespread and continuing flight disruptions.
In his detailed communication, Chennithala pointed to the cascading and far-reaching impact of the ongoing tensions in the West Asian region, which have significantly disrupted air connectivity between India and several Gulf countries that serve as key destinations for Indian migrant workers and expatriates.
Restrictions imposed by certain Gulf nations, including Dubai, on Indian carriers, which are effective until May 31, have forced airlines to cancel, reschedule, or curtail operations on several key routes that are heavily used by expatriates travelling between India and the Gulf region.
The scale and extent of the disruption, according to available data and airline disclosures, is considerable and continues to grow with each passing day.
National carrier Air India has reportedly cancelled around 690 services on Gulf routes, while IndiGo has slashed nearly 90 per cent of its operations to several destinations in the Gulf region, further aggravating the situation for passengers.
Compounding the crisis are airspace restrictions across several parts of West Asia, which are making flight scheduling increasingly complex, operationally challenging, and in many cases economically unviable for Indian carriers operating on these routes.
The immediate fallout of these disruptions has been a steep and sustained surge in air ticket fares on affected sectors, placing an additional financial burden on travellers, many of whom are daily wage earners or salaried employees dependent on affordable travel options.
Chennithala alleged that foreign airlines, including Emirates and Flydubai, have capitalised on the prevailing situation and the reduced presence of Indian carriers, further driving up ticket prices and leaving passengers with limited, constrained, and often prohibitively expensive travel options.
Describing the situation as grave and requiring urgent attention, he called on the Centre and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to act without any further delay and to take immediate corrective as well as preventive measures.
Among the measures suggested are urgent diplomatic engagement with Gulf governments to restore, normalise, or expand Indian airline operations, as well as regulatory steps to curb what he termed as unreasonable and excessive fare hikes during this period.
As a short-term and immediate relief measure, Chennithala also proposed special airfare arrangements and possible fare caps for passengers travelling from Gulf countries to India, particularly during this ongoing period of disruption and uncertainty.
With thousands of expatriates dependent on these routes for employment, livelihood, and family commitments, the coming weeks are expected to test both the policy response of the Centre as well as India’s diplomatic agility in handling the situation.
The Middle East region is home to a record 2.5 million Keralites, many of whom rely heavily on regular and affordable air connectivity with India.
–IANS
sg/pgh