RIYADH, 13 April 2004 — A group of Keralites in Riyadh have formed the Malayalee Airfare Travel Club (SAMATC) to help Indian expatriates get discounted air fares to South Indian destinations such as Trivandrum, Cochin and Calicut.
The club offers a round air ticket to Trivandrum from Riyadh for SR1,525 instead of the regular fare of SR1,950. “The club has limited this special offer only to Indians who do not get air tickets from their employers to go home for vacation,” the president of the club, Vikraman Nanoo, told Arab News.
He said there were some 300,000 Indian expatriates who have to pay air fares for their holidays. He refused to name the airline participating in this offer but clarified that the special fare would be for passengers in groups. The first group of 10 left for Trivandrum on Saturday. Another group of 50 are expected to leave tomorrow.
Nanoo said these flights were not direct and that they involved transit stops and waits. “The passengers do not mind as they normally have long vacations. What they are looking for is a cheap air fare,” he added.
He went on to say that the passengers would be ticketed by registered travel agencies in the Kingdom and would be flown by reputable foreign carriers that operate to and from the South Indian destinations.
India has an expatriate population of 1.5 million in the Kingdom and some 70 percent of the Indian population in the GCC is from Kerala. Nanoo said that he hoped to extend the service soon to Hyderabad.