Riyadh - Mangalore Flight : KWAR Gets into Action
News From P A Hameed Padubidri
For Daijiworld Media Network—Riyadh (CN)
Riyadh, Jul 1: Representatives from the Karavali welfare association Riyadh (KWAR), met the manager of Air India, Ratan Ghosh on Monday, June 30, and handed over a memorandum regarding the direct flight from Riyadh to Mangalore.
This was one of the major milestones embodied by the KWAR in its programme. The delegation consisted of Vijai Rai, president of KWAR, Khasim Ahmed, vice-president of KWAR, Royston Prabhu, general secretary, and Rajesh Kumar, co-ordinator.
The team members expressed their satisfaction with the briefing in which the existence and diverse objectives of the association were communicated to Ghosh. The delegation also highlighted the importance and contribution of Mangalore (undivided district of DK) as a focal point that had the lion’s share in education, economy, trade, business, foreign exchange, and volume of NRIs in the Kingdom.
Ghosh was also invited to the inaugural ceremony of KWAR, to be held on Friday, July 4, 2008 at Al Khayyam Hotel at Hara, in Riyadh. Sources informed that Ghosh is well aware of the region and the airline has done its own survey and homework on the possibility of introducing direct flights on this route.
The management of Air India will look into the technical aspects of operating such flights, their frequency, volume of business expected, subject to the approval of the PCA and availability of aircraft.
This is a long-awaited dream of scores of NRIs based in various parts of the Kingdom like Riyadh, Qassim, Buraida, Hail, Dawadmi, Wadi Dawasir, Al Kharj, Maima, and others. A number of problems in the existing travel system via Mumbai and other terminal points, being faced by Mangaloreans as well as others would be considerably reduced if the direct flight facility is introduced. This will require the co-operation of both the concerned state and central governments in India.
So far, there was no unified front to take up the cause in the Kingdom. Now KWAR has been pursuing the issue on a war footing and hopes to have the task accomplished before or by the end of 2008. Since its inception, KWAR has held regular meetings of its executive committee to work towards making this dream a reality.