For the aspiring Hajj pilgrims this year, the news that there are no direct flights from Srinagar to Jeddah is bad. One of the main reasons being cited is the inability of the state carrier - Air India - in winning the bid to fly the Indian pilgrims. Now that Saudi Airlines and NAS Air are said to have won the bid, “technical issues” crop up. It is believed that this is due to the reason that both these are foreign carriers – and hence cannot fly flights from Srinagar “International” Airport. Other reason being cited is Pakistan, suggesting that it does not “allow direct flights from Srinagar flying over its airspace to Jeddah” by foreign carriers. But there are questions. It is incomprehensible that if Pakistan allows Air India to operate direct Srinagar-Jeddah flights over its airspace what are the problems for foreign airlines in doing the same. After all, Saudi Airlines and NAS Air both fly over Pakistani airspace while operating between Saudi Arabia and India. Now if there are really some technical issues involved, it is important both India and Pakistan sort out this seemingly minor logistical issue to facilitate Kashmiris’ direct travel to Hajj pilgrimage from Srinagar to Jeddah and vice versa.  In today’s highly globalised world, where distances have shrunken considerably between places due to more simplified international travel procedures, silly technical glitches preventing operation of direct flights need to be sorted out. For that, India and Pakistan must sort them out as part of their confidence building dialogues aimed at simplifying things for the people of Kashmir. Obviously, this is not a serious issue which cannot be sorted out in bilateral framework between the two countries as they exist today. If the issue of direct flights between Srinagar and Jeddah has something to do with the aversion among certain people in New Delhi to anything that makes international connectivity between Srinagar and rest of the world possible, then it is deplorable, and better not to continue with.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 7 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 7 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 8 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST