Air fare hike: Ministry assures to look into issue

Thiruvananthapuram: The Union civil aviation secretary has agreed to convene a meeting of airline companies, as demanded by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to resolve spike in airfares, in New Delhi soon.
Vijayan expressed his concerns over frequent increase in fares at the discussion held with secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola in New Delhi on Sunday. He apprised the official on how people from the state, especially expats in the Gulf, have been affected by the hike.
Despite Kerala being the only state in the country with four international airports, frequent fare hikes, especially during the holiday season in the Gulf countries and also during festivals like Onam, Christmas and Eid, have hit passengers, he added.
Assuring to intervene in the issue, Kharola also agreed to convene the meeting of the respective agencies to discuss the development of airports in the state capital in the last week of July, said a release issued by the state government.
The state government has also demanded the Centre’s intervention in increasing the services of Air India, the national carrier, from the state to various destinations and also for starting more budget services from the state. It also demanded central support to make the state a predominant aviation hub in the country.
Another demand the state put forward before the civil aviation department is to improve adequate services from the newly-opened Kannur airport. It asked the Centre to sanction international flights from Kannur airport and also increase number of domestic flights from here to various destinations across the country.
The chief minister also demanded a direct flight to Japan from Thiruvananthapuram and to resume the Hyderabad-Kozhikode service.