Migrant workers in a fix as airlines hike fares on Kerala-Gulf sector

Airfares on the Gulf-Kerala sector have shot up in view next week’s Eid, leading to accusation that the airlines, including Air India, are fleecing migrant workers in the Gulf wanting to come home to celebrate the festival.

Gulf workers and their associations complain that over the past few years it has become common practice for airlines to jack up fares during the two Eids (Idul Fitr and Idul Azha). They also hiked the fares abnormally during Christmas and Onam too.

The Kerala government has sought the Centre’s intervention to get the increased fares rolled back. Non-Resident Kerala Affairs Minister KC Joseph, in a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, requested the government to intervene in the matter. He pointed out that the airlines were charging four to five times more than the normal fares. Air India, Air India Express, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Gulf Air, Air Arabia, and Kuwait Airways are among the airlines that operate on the sector. Air India, Air India Express and Saudi Airlines carry bulk of the passengers from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, along with UAE, has the majority of Keralites working in the Gulf.

The fare hike for the three Kerala destinations — Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram — started in the first week of July as the Gulf workers started arriving to celebrate Idul Fitr (which will mostly fall on July 17 this year). There is wide variation of fares charged by different airlines for these destinations from Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhammam (in Saudi Arabia); Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi (UAE); Kuwait and Bahrain. A round trip from Jeddah to Kochi now costs around ₹45,000, while the normal fare is roughly ₹13,000. Because of the current curbs on landing of wide-bodied aircraft at Kozhikode, most of the Gulf flights are now being diverted to Kochi, making the facility crowded.

In the past couple of years, associations of Gulf Malayalis had petitioned the Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the Civil Aviation Ministry against the fare hike by Air India, saying that it was unfair for the national carrier to exploit the Gulf workers who contributed so much to the national economy.

Gulf passengers’ associations point out that once the Idul Fitr season is over, the fleecing by the airlines for the Onam season, which will be in the last week of August, would begin. The demand for air tickets during the Onam season is at the peak a day before Thiruvonam, whichfalls on August 28.

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