Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JD)
Mangaluru, Jan 9: In some disappointing news for people who are travelling directly from Mangaluru to Sharjah by Jet Airways flights, the airline has suspended its direct operations from Mangalore International Airport (MIA) to Sharjah from Sunday January 8. Operation on this route is unlikely to resume until March end, officials sources said.
This means Jet Airways passengers from Mangaluru will have to fly via Mumbai and board the connecting flight to Sharjah.
Rajesh, a passenger who tried to book Mangaluru-Sharjah flight on January 7 on the Jet Airways portal found that it was not accepting any bookings from MIA to Sharjah directly.
"On January 7, when I tried to book Mangaluru-Sharjah flight, the Jet Airways website did not show any price and schedule on this route. When I called up their customer care, they told me that Mangaluru-Sharjah route has been cancelled and if I want to fly this route, I had to do so through Mumbai. When I asked them why the public was not intimated about this, they did not give any proper answer," Rajesh said.
When contacted, the area head of sales Sudheendra confirmed that the service was suspended to Sharjah from January 8. "We have been working in this regard since December and we have intimated all the agents about this cancellation," he said.
It may be recalled that the services of the airline at the Mangaluru international airport were much criticised as successive delays and cancellation of the flight operations on this route occurred on December 31. The first flight of the day to Sharjah which was supposed to leave MIA at 9.30 am was delayed and was eventually cancelled at 11 am leaving 168 passengers stranded in the airport.
The subsequent flight which was offered as an alternative the next morning, which would enable the passengers to fly to Sharjah from Mumbai the following evening, was also cancelled without prior notice, sources said.
When contacted through email, the company offcials said that an official clarification would be issued shortly and assured that if due to any operational reasons flight changes are being made, guests will be offered re-accommodation on alternate flights, or alternate routing, and be informed of the same.
Apart from Mangaluru, even in the other cities of India, the services of the airline were affected due to various reasons and passengers were stranded due to flights being cancelled or delayed.