JEDDAH, 22 May — The southern Indian state of Kerala has become a hotspot for tourists, especially those from the Arab world. “The state, which is also visited for herbal and Ayurvedic treatment, has captured the hearts of Arab tourists for its greenery and scenic beauty. No wonder it ranks among the top 50 tourist places in the world. A majority of over 200,000 Arabs toured Kerala and some other south Indian destinations last year, marking a steep increase in their number in the past few years,” Capt. P.P. Singh, Air-India’s Gulf and Middle East regional manager, said here on Sunday night.
Speaking at a reception hosted by the airline to mark the introduction of weekly two nonstop flights, from Jeddah to Hyderabad and Calicut, Singh said that aside from Kerala, tourists had found certain other south Indian destinations extremely interesting. They include Ooty, a resort town in Tamil Nadu state, and Bangalore, the country’s silicon valley known as the “garden city,” and Mysore, a historic and picturesque city, both in Karnataka state.
Traditionally, Arabs and other tourists visited Delhi, Agra (Taj Mahal) and Jaipur, known as the “golden triangle,” as well as Bombay, but in the recent years their interests had additionally shifted to many other parts of the country, said Singh, who recently assumed charge in Dubai. He was commercial manager for Western India based in Bombay before and had earlier served the airline in Germany and Austria.
He hoped that the newly introduced nonstop flights would become commercially successful so that such services could be increased. Following the revival of the weekly nonstop flight to Hyderabad every Wednesday on May 16, the airline introduced its weekly nonstop flight to Calicut yesterday. With these two flights, the number of flights operated from Jeddah has risen to eight. “By the end of the month, we’ll have added in all 11 flights to our weekly schedule,” Singh said, adding that the airline’s total weekly flights would increase from 108 to 115 by the end of the month from India to various overseas destinations with its fleet of 28 aircraft.
The airline, which claimed to have achieved 93 percent on time performance in Jeddah, also introduced a new nonstop flight from Dhahran to Trivandrum yesterday. Earlier, Consul General Syed Akbaruddin speaking as the chief guest said the community had wholeheartedly welcomed the reintroduction of the weekly flight to Hyderabad, which it had been demanding since its discontinuation four years ago. The new weekly flight to Calicut had also received all-round welcome from Keralites who constituted a large chunk of the Indian expatriate community, he added. Attar Travel Managing Director Ghassan O. Attar said the company had been the ground-handling agent of A-I since 1977 and so its growth from weekly one flight to its present level of eight flights from Jeddah had made it proud.
Wishing success to the newly launched flights on behalf of Kanoo Travel, A-I’s general sales agent, was Abdullah Abo Khamseen, executive general manager travel, based in the Eastern Province. He said airline would celebrate 25 years of its operation to Jeddah next year.
In a spectacular display, organized by S.M. Mazharullah, A-I manager for the Western Province, and his staff, a counter staff member dressed up as Maharaja, the airline’s Mascot, walked toward the podium with a palanquin following him. The palanquin had a huge cake, which was ceremoniously cut jointly by the consul general, Singh, Attar and Khamseen. A standing ovation was given to Muhammad Wasseem, the first sales manager of A-I when it started its operations 24 years ago. He is now the general manager of Hatim Travel Agency.
