Panaji, Oct 16 (TNN): Goa NRI commissioner Wilfred Mesquita has written to Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati urging his intervention to start a direct flight from Muscat (Oman) to Goa for the benefit of over 10,000 non-resident Goans in Muscat.
Mesquita said that he had earlier taken up the issue with NACIL in July 2012, but, got no response. His office did not pursue the matter in the belief that Oman Air was starting a direct flight from Muscat to Goa.
That did not materialize either and now the non-resident Goans have once again requested a direct flight in the hope that the new NDA government at the Centre will heed to their demand.
Justifying the demand, Mesquita said that presently the Goans from Muscat take the flight to Mumbai and then take a connecting flight to Goa. These Goans are keen to fly by Air India due to the highly subsidized cost of the Mumbai-Goa ticket.
This flight leaves at midnight from Muscat and reaches Mumbai early morning at 4.10am. There is no convenient Air India connecting flight to take them to Goa as the only flight is at 5.15am. The Goa airport is closed from Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 1pm, and so there is great hardship routing through Mumbai.
Passengers are required to spend about eight hours in Mumbai before they can get an Air India flight to Goa at 1pm, Mesquita said.
The commissioner has also reminded of some other options that may be considered if a direct flight is not possible. One is the re-schedule the Air India Mumbai-Goa flight in the morning to leave an hour later or around 7 am. Second is to advance the Muscat-Mumbai flight departure time by at least two hours. This will allow adequate time to check into the Mumbai-Goa flight.
The third option is to schedule the Air India flight from Muscat to Mumbai to go on further to Goa, taking local Mumbai passengers also. If this flight is so scheduled, all the Goa passengers of other earlier Gulf-Mumbai flights can also board this latest flight for the lap to Goa, the NRI commissioner said.