Kuwait:Karnataka NRIs' Efforts to Bring about Kuwait-Mangalore Direct Flight

Daijiworld News Network [With inputs from Hasan A.Yusuf, Kuwait]
Kuwait, Jun 28: As the Mangalore airport has been announced as a Custom airport and given green signal to handle International flights, efforts are going on all around the Gulf countries to arrange direct flights to Mangalore.
The campaign started in Dubai a couple of years ago has now spread around the Gulf, and the Karnataka NRIs in Kuwait are making special efforts not only to bring International flight to Mangalore but also to have various Karnataka-related issues addressed.
The following news may welcomed as a very favourable development by NRIs from Mangalore.
A delegation from United Associations of Karnataka (UAKK) in Kuwait, a forum of 15 Associations working for the welfare of the people of Karnataka in Kuwait and in India, had a meeting in the evening of June 27, 2006 with Captain Mukhled K Al-Sawagh, Vice President, Operations, Jazeera Airways in Kuwait and Reinhard Kossack, Chief Operating Officer in their Head Office in Kuwait with regard to direct flights from Kuwait and other Gulf sectors to Mangalore airport.
John Tauro of Kuwait Aviation, a member of United Associations of Karnataka, Kuwait had arranged the said meeting with these Jazeera Airways higher officials, with the help of Bobby Varghese Jacob of the same Airways.
Pascal Pinto- Coordinator, government affairs of UAKK Kuwait, along with Hasan Yusuf and Fayaz Sheik (members of the delegation), submitted a memorandum to the Vice President, Operations requesting Jazeera Airways to help the NRIs from Mangalore and the surrounding areas by operating direct flights to Mangalore from Kuwait and other Gulf sectors.
Jazeera Airways officials told the delegation that they would look for possible ways to help in this matter and suggested to submit the details of the complete facilities available in Mangalore airport for International airways/flights. They also said that they would have another meeting with the UAKK delegation after studying the report on facilities available in Mangalore airport and the financial feasibility of operating direct flights to Mangalore.
The UAKK delegation thanked the Jazeera Airways officials for their encouragement to go ahead in this matter.
In the meantime, efforts are still on to exert maximum pressure on Air India Express and some other airlines to start immediate flights between Dubai and Mangalore.
More updates on this issue will available in the coming days