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Sharjah-Calicut flight cancelled as AI pilots go
on strike

A strike by a group of Air India (AI) pilots that began in India on Monday night is not likely to significantly disrupt the UAE service, an airline official said on Tuesday afternoon.

More than 100 pilots of erstwhile Air India have called in sick and are on a strike in protest against the government’s move to train erstwhile Indian Airline’s pilots for flying the Dreamliner 787 aircraft, a decision that was taken after the two national carriers merged under a parent company. The Air India Express flight from Sharjah to Calicut is the only flight that has been so far cancelled due to the strike, said Abhay Pathak, Regional Director, Air India (Middle East and Africa).” We are trying to accommodate the 122 passengers booked on that flight in different flights,” he told Khaleej Times.

The flight IX 350, which was supposed to depart at 1.40pm, was cancelled after the pilot called in sick at the Calicut International Airport in Kerala.

“We have accommodated 25 passengers on an Air India Dubai–Calicut flight that departed at 1pm. Another set of 25 will be sent on Air India Sharjah-Calicut flight at midnight,” he said.

The official said 25 more passengers will be accommodated on Air India Sharjah-Cochin flight at midnight. “We will be providing them surface transport from Cochin to Calicut. We are trying to accommodate the rest of the passengers on Jet Airways and Air Arabia,” he said.

According to Pathak, the strike is not likely to hit the services from and to the UAE since the pilots on strike are the ones who fly wide-bodied aircraft. “We hardly have any wide-bodied aircraft flying in this region, except in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

sajila@khaleejtimes.com