Pics: Meryick D’Silva
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (MD)

Mangalore, Aug 16: The Mangalore International Airport Users' Forum (MIAUF) on Saturday August 16 laid down various problems and demands in front of the media to highlight the issues at Bajpe airport.

In order to impress this upon the authorities concerned, the representatives of various organizations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are coming together under the banner of MIAUF and have planned to sit on dharna on Monday August 18 in front of the DC's office, Mangalore, and submit a memorandum with a charter of demands to the departments concerned through the DC, and to the airport director, the customs commissioner, and the state minister.

Addressing the media, Prabhakara Ambalathere, coordinator of MIAUF, said, "In order to recover the construction cost of the International Airport at Mangalore, a user fee was imposed on the passengers. Even after several years of fee collection and recovering more than the cost, it is high time this fee collection is stopped. Even after years, compensation to the bereaved families of the air crash victims has not been fully distributed. We demand that adequate compensation to the next of kin of the victims be provided immediately as well as a memorial be built for the victims."

Talking about the increase in the luggage limit and proper handling of luggage, he said, “In the good old days, passengers were allowed to carry 35 kg of luggage. NRIs, after years of toiling on foreign soil, come to the airport with dreams of a happy reunion with family and relatives and want to carry some gifts. But today, the limit has been reduced to 17 kg and even a slight increase in weight by 1 or 2 kg makes them offenders in the eyes of the officials issuing the boarding pass."

“When one books an Air India Express ticket online, most of the seats are blocked. When you enter the aircraft you can see most of the seats vacant. It is said that it is to compensate the weight of luggage and passengers, but the situation was not different even when passengers had a higher baggage allowance,” he added.

“Except the day flights, the flights to Mangalore are operated at the convenience of the staff and the passengers are made to face hardships at both airports waiting for long hours and spending sleepless nights at the airport lounges,” he said.

M R Vasudeva, chief co-ordinator, Karnataka NRI’s Forum, B A Mahamood, and Venkatesh Bhat were also present during the conference.