JEDDAH, 23 April — Indian expatriates from the southern cities of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh and Calicut in Kerala have their long felt need fulfilled with Air-India announcing yesterday the introduction of direct flights to the two destinations from Jeddah.
Effective May 16, the country’s flag bearer will commence the operation of a weekly nonstop flight on the Hyderabad-Jeddah-Hyderabad sector. A weekly nonstop flight on the Calicut-Jeddah-Calicut sector will start from May 21, the airline’s Western Province Manager S.M. Mazharullah announced at a press conference at Jeddah Trident.
The flight to Hyderabad will be operated every Wednesday, while the flight to Calicut every Tuesday. Saudi Arabian Airlines operates four frequencies a week from Jeddah to Bombay, Delhi and Madras.
With the two new flights, the number of flights Air-India operates from Jeddah every week rises to eight. The six services being presently operated by the wide-bodied Boeing 747-400 with a configuration of 16 first, 34 executive and 385 economy seats include five for Bombay and one for Delhi.
The airline also operates weekly six flights each from Riyadh and Dhahran. “We’ll, however, continue to offer convenient connections to Hyderabad on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, and to Calicut on Saturdays and Sundays,” Mazharullah added. He said the nonstop Hyderabad flight will depars from the city at 7.45 a.m. every Wednesday arriving in Jeddah at 11.10 a.m.
The return flight will leave Jeddah at 1.15 p.m. reaching Hyderabad at 9.25 p.m. The flight from Calicut will depart at 3.35 p.m. every Monday arriving in Jeddah at 7:00 p.m.
The return flight will leave Jeddah at 1.30 a.m. on Tuesday reaching Calicut at 9.45 a.m. The flights will be operated by Airbus 310 aircraft with a configuration of 20 executive and 181 economy seats.
“Depending on the demand, we’ll consider introducing a second weekly flight each to Hyderabad and Calicut,” Mazharullah said, adding that choicest cuisine was being worked out to meet the desired tastes.
He said that no-show among passengers dropped to under five percent during peak seasons and five to 10 percent during off-peak periods, as well as on-time departures now averaged 93 percent. The airline has now a dedicated telephone line (6614928) for direct booking of seats.
Mazharullah, who has received a commendatory note from Consul General Syed Akbaruddin for the success of the airline’s Haj operations, introduced his new management team comprising S.T. Norbula, customer relations and airport manager; K.K. Patnaik, aircraft maintenance manager; R.K. Hotchandani, accounts manager; Saadat Ali Khan, district sales manager; and Sarwar Aziz and Hafiz Sarang.
