New Delhi, Feb 11: With war clouds hovering over Iraq, government has directed both Air India and the Indian Airlines to stand in readiness for evacuation of over 50,000 Indians working in Kuwait on a short notice of three days, if necessity arises.
During Iraq's invasion of Kuwait a decade ago, the air
India had carried out a massive operation of evacuating
Indians back home.
While Air India plans to operate one Boeing 747-400, one
747-Combi and two A310s, Indian Airlines has plans for
operating about 11 flights a day by using two A-300s and three
A-320s to evacuate the Indians, official sources said.
The target for Indian Airlines is to carry about 2,000
passengers per day and for Air India about 1,500 passengers.
The flights are to operate from Mumbai to Dammam and on their
way back touch Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. Since there was
no night landing facility at Kozhikode, it may not be used,
they said.
Operation of an a-300 flight from Mumbai to Dammam and
back is estimated to cost Rs 39 lakh and for an A-320 Rs 23
lakh.
The operations may affect the flight schedule of the
both airlines who may have to cancel some flights.
Air India is also likely to consider cancellation of
flights to destinations like Paris, New Jersey, Frankfurt and
Tokyo.
Bureau Report
