Mangalore-Dammam inaugural flight takes off - WATCH VIDEO!

Mangalore, Apr 3: The historic Mangalore-Dammam direct flight with 160 passengers onboard finally took off from Mangalore International Airport at 5 p.m. (IST) on Wednesday.

A festive atmosphere prevailed at the Mangalore International Airport as for the first time in its six decades of history, overwhelmed passengers from Mangalore are directly flying to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today.

Passengers who boarded the Mangalore-Dammam inaugural flight from the airport in Bajpe were enthusiastic over the direct flight which could save trouble for the large number of expatriates from the region of coastal Karnataka working in Saudi Arabia. As many as 59 passengers from Mangalore were on board the flight which took off at 5 p.m. today, airline officials said. The 160-seat capacity flight began its journey from Calicut with passengers from Kerala at 3 p.m. and landed at Mangalore at 4 p.m.

Udupi-Chikmagalur MP K Jayaprakash Hegde, Mangalore MLA U T Khader and Chairman of Coastaldigest.com Mohammed Asif were among those who were on-board. Deputy General Manager of Air India Express, Mangalore Melwin D'Silva presented the boarding cards to the dignitaries and welcomed them on the inaugural flight.

Speaking to mediapersons, Mr Khader said that a large population from Mangalore and other parts of coastal Karnataka, used to frequent Dammam, Jubail, Riyadh and other parts of Saudi Arabia for work-related purposes. The long-standing demand of a direct flight linking Mangalore with the major cities of Saudi Arabia has been fulfilled today, due to the continuous efforts of Amaco chairman Mohammed Asif and members of various organisations, who met several prominent people such as Praful Patel, S M Krishna, Veerappa Moily, Oscar Fernandes and several others urging them to facilitate a direct flight between Mangalore and Saudi Arabia. The flight will also serve as an opportunity for growth for Mangalore International Airport, he said, wishing that more flights would become operational from Mangalore to Saudi in the coming days.

Mr Hegde and Mr Khader will be visiting Saudi to participate in the Coastaldigest.com gala to be held in Jubail on Thursday evening.

Airport Director T Radhakrishnan, Air India Express of Mangalore Melwin D'Silva and airport manager for Air India Sudhir Bhat accorded a warm welcome to all the passengers checking-in for the Air India Express flight IXE 385, which landed in Mangalore from Calicut.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has made all arrangements for the smooth operation of arrival and departure of flights from Dammam. Mangalore is now connected with Dammam in Saudi Arabia with the commencement of flight IXE 385. Air India Express will operate flights twice a week from Mangalore to Dammam on Wednesdays and Saturdays and the return flight leaving Dammam on Thursday and Sunday.

Passengers thrilled

The air link to Dammam was a long-awaited connection by the local travelers and NRIs. Before the flight took off from Mangalore as per schedule, many eager passengers shared their enthusiasm and appreciation for the flight which was made possible through the efforts and dedication of several people.

Visibly happy, Bajpe Zakariya, a prominent NRI industrialist in Saudi Arabia, who checked-in along with his family said that he was delighted over the commencement of the direct flight. “People and representatives of various organizations have worked hard for the past three years for the commencement of this flight and today the dream has come true. This flight will be useful for the people of entire coastal Karnataka, especially Dakshina Kannada, since a large number of people from this area are employed in Saudi, said Mr Zakariya, who employs over 250 Indians in the Kingdom.

Ali, another passenger said that he was eagerly waiting for this day. “I am feeling happy. I had never imagined that I will directly fly to Dammam from Mangalore so soon,” said Ali who has been working in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade.

Naveena D'Souza, hailing from Udupi, visits Saudi once every six months to avoid the expiry of her Saudi visa. Travelling with her son and daughter, she told Coastaldigest.com that she was very happy about the direct flight. “Since me and my children hold Saudi Arabian visas, visiting the Kingdom every six months is inevitable. So far, it was a hassle travelling to Saudi each time, since it would always result in wastage of time. The direct flight will make our journey easy now,” she said, smiling.

Her son, Flanish said that prior to the direct flight, they had to travel to Saudi via Mumbai, Bahrain or Dubai, which would make it difficult for them. A lot of time would be wasted waiting in the airports and the duration between two different connecting flights would be very less, making it hard sometimes to catch the next flight on time. The direct flight will help us reach our destination faster, so now, we can directly fly to Dammam in less than five hours without trouble or wasting much time, he said.

A youngster Afzal, travelling with his family said that the direct flight made their journey stress-free.

Chief Operating Officer of Air India Express Ansbert D'Souza conveyed his warm wishes to the passengers travelling on the flight and his gratitude to the people of Mangalore for their support.

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