Congress MP B. Manickam Tagore has sought the intervention of Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu in continued services of Madurai-Singapore international flight services offered by Air India Express.

In a letter written to the Union Minister, the Virudhunagar MP blamed the change in flight departure to daytime and higher airfares had led to the declining patronage for the route.

Air India Express, the sole operator to Singapore from Madurai, had introduced the international services from September 11, 2017. It was operating three days a week with a convenient night timing of leaving Madurai at 11.30 p.m.

The timing of the services attracted good patronage. Consequently, it became a daily service and one of the most successful routes for Air India Express with a consistent load factor of 80% to 85%. The passenger patronage also peaked at 27,336 passengers using the services in the quarter of April to June in 2019, the MP said.

However, following the disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the flight schedule was reduced to two days a week with a daytime departure at 1.50 p.m.

After the change in timings and increase airfares, the demand for the services saw a decline and the route could not achieve the same success it had before the pandemic, Mr. Tagore said. Besides, the airline has planned to stop the service from April, he said.

“We strongly believe that the decline in performance is primarily due to the inconvenient daytime schedule and the increased fares. Restoring the flight to its original night-time departure will not only provide much-needed convenience to the passengers, but will also ensure continued success of the route,” he said.

Stating that the route served a critical purpose, especially for the Tamil diaspora originating from Madurai, Mr. Tagore said that stopping the direct air link would affect both community ties and business relations.