Riyadh: Air passengers from southern Kerala are delighted that Air India Express will be operating direct flights from Thiruvananthapuram to Riyadh from September 9 onwards. Manorama Online reported that the weekly service is likely to be operated on Mondays. The AX 521 flight that departs Thiruvananthapuram at 5.55 pm will reach Riyadh at 10.40 pm. The return flight departs at 11.40 pm and arrives at Thiruvananthapuram at 7.30 am the next morning. Passengers have been demanding a direct flight to the Saudi Arabian capital from Thiruvananthapuram for the last five years. Those who are returning after the school holidays and expatriates who wish to visit Kerala for Onam can reach their destinations in just five hours. The long-cherished dream of the passengers who rely on Thiruvananthapuram International Airport for flying to Riyadh has now been fulfilled.
Why Saudia stopped service
Fliers have been facing many difficulties at Thiruvananthapuram lately, after the users’ fee was hiked and also due to the shortage of direct flights to many destinations. Meanwhile, Manorama Online had reported the struggles faced by the expatriates while flying to Saudi Arabia, a while ago. Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who took notice of the issue, had promised to intervene in the matter and take the necessary steps to start direct flights from Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier, Saudia, the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia and Air India had operated direct flights to Thiruvananthapuram. However, the former discontinued the service as there weren’t enough passengers in this sector. Even though Air India continued to operate flights on this route, the service got stalled during the pandemic times.
Those who book tickets on the flight to Riyadh via Sri Lanka, which is also the cheapest among the connection flights, have to lay over at Colombo for over eight hours. They again have to fly another five hours from there to Riyadh in the evening. Adv. Mansoor Kuttanayyath, the owner of Olympia Travels, is hopeful that the newly announced service would end the severe hardships faced by the passengers who had to travel for over 15 hours to reach Riyadh. He noted that lots of people who wanted to return to Riyadh after the school holidays and those who wished to visit Kerala during the Onam season have already begun making enquiries about the bookings. Earlier, there were three weekly direct flights to Riyadh and back. Meanwhile, Adv. Mansoor remarked that the number of flights on this route may increase in the future if the airline companies consider the demand for air tickets in this sector.
Connection services and long flights
Currently, the available connection services to Riyadh would take at least 8 – 15 hours to reach the destination. Moreover, the ticket charges for such flights aren’t cheap. Passengers have to halt at Colombo, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar to fly to Riyadh. Meanwhile, Air India’s Riyadh flight flies via Mumbai and Bengaluru before landing in Thiruvananthapuram. Passengers have to fly for more than half a day when you can reach Riyadh directly in just five hours.
Commoners who have moderate incomes mostly rely on budget airlines to travel to Kerala and back without burning holes in their pockets. However, a family of four has to spend exorbitant amounts on ticket fares even on budget airlines during the peak season. Besides, you need to spend an additional amount for food and beverages in most airlines. Families find it extremely stressful to spend long hours inside the airport. Air travellers from the southern parts of Kerala including half of Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kollam districts as well as the southern districts in Tamil Nadu like Madurai, Sengottai, Thirunelveli, Nagercoil and Kanyakumari too rely on Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. Pregnant women, children, old people, and passengers with physical difficulties and illness struggle as there aren’t any direct flights from here to Riyadh. Besides, those who have to travel urgently for medical reasons or bedridden patients have no other options than to take these longer routes. Transporting the mortal remains of expatriates to Thiruvananthapuram is another challenge. Recently, the mortal remains of a person who was transported on a connecting flight via Mumbai were wrongly sent, from here, on another flight that was scheduled later. As the mortal remains arrived late in Thiruvananthapuram, the family was forced to reschedule the funeral for the next day.
