T’puram: Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan has urged Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu to take urgent steps to bring down the exorbitant airfares between Kerala and the Gulf countries.In a letter to the minister, Vijayan said thousands of expatriate Malayalis travelling during the holiday season and ahead of the reopening of schools in the Gulf were facing severe financial hardship. Airlines were charging five to six times the usual fares and making “unfair” profits, he said.Tickets that normally cost Rs 6,000–12,000 are now being sold at exorbitant rates, with economy fares on several routes crossing Rs 1.17 lakh. In some cases, fares have reportedly reached Rs 1.5 lakh.Vijayan said tickets from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra to Gulf destinations were available for around Rs 30,000, raising concerns over airfare practices on Kerala-Gulf routes.He urged the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to intervene, increase services from Kerala and convene a meeting of stakeholders to resolve the issue. The Centre should also arrange additional services, including chartered flights wherever possible, he said.
