A.P. expatriates hail direct flight to Dubai

By R.J. Rajendra Prasad

DUBAI, JUNE 12. The Indian expatriate community in Dubai has welcomed the introduction of a direct flight from Hyderabad to Dubai three days a week, but Indian Airlines is facing stiff competition from the Emirates which is introducing eight direct flights on this sector from July 1 with vastly better facilities for passenger comfort, including ``in seat telephone and fax facilities to keep in touch with your family on ground''.

A Telugu youth from Razole in East Godavari district, working for the past six years in a travel agency in Dubai, says that the direct flight is ``indeed a boon'' to people from Andhra Pradesh working in Dubai.

``Earlier, we had to go via Mumbai with all the problems of spending on accommodation and travel to our native places, but Hyderabad is far better,'' he adds.

Mr. K. Kumar, vice-president of the Indian Association in Dubai, says that the service is obviously the result of efforts of the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, to whom the Indian community had represented when Mr. Naidu visited Dubai last year. Mr. Kumar says that a million Indians work in the UAE, of whom at least one lakh are Telugu speaking.

Mr. V.P. Arora, Deputy Managing Director of Indian Airlines, says that IA carried 1,75,000 passengers from the UAE to India in the last financial year, earning a revenue of Rs. 375 crores, and that about half these passengers came from Dubai.

The Hyderabad-Dubai fare for the onward and return journey is Rs. 18,843, and the passenger has to complete the return journey in three months.

The flight time is 3 hours and 35 minutes.

About a million Indians work in the UAE, which consists of seven emirates, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaima and Ajman.

Dubai and Sharjah can be called twin cities, because they are 30 km apart and the two cities almost touch each other. The Indians working in the UAE visit their homeland at least once a year and the potential for further growth of air travel is vast.

Dr. Ghanem Al Hajri, Director General of the Sharjah Airport Authority, welcomed the Indian Airlines' efforts, saying that they support the IA because people of Indian origin have contributed so much for the development of the UAE.

Indian Airlines operates 23 direct flights a week from Sharjah to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kochi, Kozhikode and Tiruchi, among other destinations in the North.

Mr. Arora says that Dubai was always high on the IA's Gulf agenda, with the airline launching a special package in January ``Dubai Flyaways'' to coincide with the Dubai Marathon. Mr. Arora says that the IA has plans to buy new aircraft at a cost of Rs. 9,000 crores, but this is now linked to efforts at corporatisation of the IA, and the introduction of a ``new strategic partner'' to run the airline.

The UAE is flush with money, and the facilities they have created at Dubai and Sharjah airports are in the superlative.

The Sheikh Rashid terminal at Dubai, in an extent of 1,48,000 square metres, operates from five levels with 27 gates and 47 passenger loading bridges, and houses a 100-room five-star hotel. Dubai airport handled 12 million passengers last year.

A third terminal is being planned to be operational from next year, to meet the growing needs of the Emirates.

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Section  : International
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