Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Sep 27: The final countdown has begun on the historic, first-ever International flight to Mangalore, and a lot of preparations are under way in Mangalore to welcome the first flight.
Interestingly, politics has already begun to rear its head as to who would share the dais and limelight on this memorable occasion. Daijiworld has chanced upon some interesting tidbits from various but reliable sources.
For facilitating the convenience of the VIPs in Mangalore, the Air India flight from Dubai will now depart an hour earlier than scheduled. The maiden flight will take off from Dubai International Airport's Terminal No. 2 at 1310 hours local time, instead of 1410 hours as announced earlier.
However, it should be noted that this revised timing is applicable only for the inaugural flight. Flights on later days will take off according to the normal schedule announced already.
Praful Patel and Kumaraswamy
The star attraction of the day is union minister of civil aviation Praful Patel. He will preside over the event. As per protocol, Karnatala chief minister Kumaraswamy was the first to announce his participation in the inaugural event at Mangalore Airport. Observers said that, although he did not contribute in any way to the expeditious realization of the project, except some promises in Dubai, his presence is a must, from the point of view of political hierarchy. Besides, he could be trying to gain political mileage out of this event.
Deputy CM Yediyurappa, state ministers Nagaraj Shetty and V S Acharya are also guests of honour at the function.
Though many people in Mangalore are not aware of the first flight, daijiworld's sources have indicated that thousands of NRIs are eagerly awaiting the flight.
BJP state president and Mangalore MP Sadananda Gowda and Suratkal MLA Krishna Palemar will not only attend the inaugural function, but also fly from Mangalore to Dubai by the first return flight!
Union minister Oscar Fernandes is also expected to attend the event, but there is a question mark among the people, whether he could be attending only to compensate for not doing anything towards this cause until now or he will be present as Sonia Gandhi's envoy and only provide company to cabinet colleague Praful Patel. These are the actual comments heard from the people of Mangalore, when daijiworld made a survey of the mood of the people. Whatever may be the case, he will share the dais and speak about his contribution for sure, said a Bajpe resident, trying hard to hide his sarcasm.
As reported earlier on daijiworld, the inaugural flight was fully booked within 36 hours of the opening of the booking. Apart from this, several other flights to Mangalore have been fully booked until October 28.
A large number of Mangaloreans residing in the UAE are eagerly awaiting the winter season booking to open. Air India Express in Dubai says the booking should be open within the next two days positively.
Meanwhile, Mangalore airport director M R Vasudeva said that, October 3 being a historic day for Mangaloreans, the foundation stone for the new terminal building would also be laid on the same day at 3.00 pm IST, a few hours ahead of the landing of the Air India Express from Dubai.
People who have put in their genuine efforts towards the progress of Mangalore international flight project have also confirmed their travel by the maiden flight. Co-ordinator of Karnataka NRI Forum UAE Rajesh Sequeira, NMC chariman and community leader B R Shetty, UAE Money Exchange general manager Sudhir Shetty, Mangalore Konkans president James Mendonca and others will be on this flight, said daijiworld sources in Dubai.
Some of the Mangalorean girls from Dubai are getting ready to welcome passengers, dressed in Mangalorean attire, it is learnt.
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