Indians left stranded after Bahrain Air fiasco

Bahrain Air is to hold talks with India’s transport ministry this week in a bid to resolve problems with flights to Kerala. The Gulf state’s second flag carrier had to cancel a flight to the city of Trivandrum in the state of Kerala earlier this week after Indian authorities had not yet approved the new route. The sudden cancellation, which occurred on Wednesday night, reportedly left some 140 passengers stranded in the Bahrain for more than 24 hours. According to airport sources quoted in media reports, flights by Bahrain Air to its three other Indian destinations, Karipur, Nedumbaserry and Mumbai, are operating normally. Bahrain Air launched the route from Bahrain to Trivandrum on March 15, with four flights weekly and plans to increase to seven by the summer. The CEO of the airline told Arabian Business earlier that the Indian subcontinent was one of its strongest markets this year, given the high number of Kerala citizens living in Bahrain. However, he was not available for immediate comment on the current problems. Richard Nuttall said the company planned to sign a codeshare agreement with an Indian carrier in the next six to nine months in a bid to boost its number of services to Indian cities and increase its revenues. He said the firm was in talks with five Indian airlines on the possibility of a deal, which it could sign before the end of the year.