Steps sought to solve emigration clearance issue

Thiruvananthapuram, July 28 (UNI) The Kerala Chapter of the Board of Airline Representatives in India, has sought the intervention of Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan to solve the problems faced by passengers to the Gulf countries, in obtaining emigration clearance.

Air India Manager-Trivandrum, H A Munaff, who is also the chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives led a delegation of Airline managers to the Chief Minister and submitted a memorandum.

It was highlighted in the memorandum that the Kerala market was heavily dependent on traffic moving to the Gulf countries. The imbroglio with regard to the difficulty in getting emigration clearance had already affected the load factors of all the airlines operating from Thiruvananthapuram, including National Carriers- Air India and Indian.

It was pointed out to the Chief Minister that the load, which have plummeted by over 25 per cent, had made a severe dent on the revenues of all the airlines during the past two months.

Even though some steps were taken recently to address this issue, the problem was still not completely resolved.

Mr Achuthanandan agreed to do the needful at the earliest by contacting the appropriate authorities.

UNI CR JJ MIR VV1938