Mangalore Airport Users' Forum seeks budget airlines

The Mangalore International Airport (MIA) Users Forum has demanded that the Air India express introduce reduced fares to Gulf countries on the lines of flight fares to airports in Kerala.
The forum, in association with more than 30 UAE based organisations, staged a dharna before the Deputy Commissioner's office here today to press their demands.
In a release here, the Forum Co-ordinator Prabhakara Ambalathere said the average flight fare to Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram from UAE countries was around 580 Dirhams ( Rs 9,600), while the fare to Mangalore from the Gulf was about 2,000 Dirhams ( Rs 33,000), which was four times higher than the fares to Kerala airports.

The forum wanted the Civil Aviation Ministry to introduce budget airlines to MIA and set up a grievance cell at the Deputy Commissioner's office here to solve the issues pertaining to passengers to Mangalore from Gulf countries.
Prabhakara said passengers taking off and landing at MIA were facing various types of harrassment. In the last eight years the service at MIA had been disappointing, he said.
The Forum also urged the authorities to increase the luggage limit, proper handling of luggage, better treatment from air and ground staff and setting up of a Non-Resident Kannadiga Welfare Authority.