Air India, Jet to start extra flights to Doha

New Delhi: The government has asked national carrier Air India and private airline Jet Airways to operate additional flights from India to Qatar and back after receiving feedback that there are Indian nationals who wanted to travel to India from there but could not get bookings.

There is apparently a rush there on account of the forthcoming Id festival. Saudi Arabia and a few other countries in the region had recently snapped diplomatic ties with Qatar apart from imposing restrictions on airspace use.

Air India Express, the low cost arm of Air India, will operate flights on the Trivandrum-Doha-Cochin-Trivandrum sector from June 25 to July 8, while Jet Airways will operate flights on the Mumbai-Doha-Mumbai sector on July 22 and 23.

Civil aviation ministry sources said, “External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had talked to minister of civil aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju on June 19 and they had discussed operating additional flights to Doha for Indian nationals who were not able to get bookings but needed to reach the country back from Doha. Accordingly, the ministry had taken up the issue with concerned airlines and it has been decided that the following additional flights shall be operated —— Trivandrum-Doha, Doha-Cochin-Trivandrum sector on Boeing 737 (186 seater) from 25th June to 8th July 2017 by Air India Express (and) Mumbai-Doha-Mumbai on 22nd and 23rd June 2017 by Jet Airways (168 seater). The minister of civil aviation has conveyed that all steps necessary for timely movement of Indian Nationals from Qatar shall be ensured.”

Civil aviation minister Raju tweeted, “We’ll operate additional flights b/w Doha and Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin and Mumbai for our citizens not able to get tickets at Doha. ... All steps necessary for timely movement of our citizens from Doha will be ensured. I and @SushmaSwaraj ji are in touch on this issue.”

According to reports, the flights will meet the massive demand ahead of Id, due to a ban on Qatar carriers by some West Asian nations.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain had banned the use of their airspace for flights to and from Doha earlier this month and later revised the embargo saying it would apply only for Qatar operators. According to news agency reports, the restrictions on the use of airspace were imposed while nine countries severed diplomatic ties with Qatar.