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The second in the series of chartered flights arranged by Thumbay Group, UAE and the Bearys Cultural Forum (BCF) Trust, Mangalore to repatriate stranded Kannadigas in the UAE took off from Ras Al Khaimah International Airport on 25th July 2020. The flight was fully occupied with 178 passengers including the sick and elderly as well as those in need of urgent medical attention due to chronic illnesses, pregnant ladies and kids. Passengers also included those facing visa issues and job losses.

Implemented under the leadership of Dr. Thumbay Moideen - Founder President of Thumbay Group & Founder Patron of BCF and Dr. B K Yusuf - President of BCF, these repatriation flights are organized on a purely charitable basis, with all necessary steps and precautions in place to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers. 

Thumbay Group assigned its fleet of buses to transport the passengers free of charge from their residences in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman to the airport. The organizers also provided free meals and refreshments to the passengers, in addition to PPE kits and face-shields distributed free of charges. 

Dr. B K Yusuf – BCF President, Dr. Kaup Mohammed - BCF General Secretary, other office bearers of BCF, as well as Thumbay Group’s representatives Mr. Farhad C – Director of the 
Hospitality Division of Thumbay Group and Engr. Farwaz P. C. – COO of the Construction Division were present at the airport to see off the second group of passengers. 

ARISTOCRAT Travels supported the ticketing, boarding and related processes for the passengers. Support 
was also extended by social organizations including Bhatkal Jamath, Bhatkal association, BCCI, BWF, DKSC, KNRI, Kannadiga Help Line, KDKGS-UAE, Dubai Konkans, KSS and Dubai 
Kannadigas.

The passengers were received at Mangalore airport under the leadership of Mr. Mumtaz Ali - patron of BCF and other distinguished personalities of Mangalore including Mr. B. M. Farookh - Hon. MLC, Mr. Moidin Bava - former MLA, Mr. U. T. Ifthikhar, Mr. S. M. R. Rashid - President of 
BCCI central committee etc.The passengers were transferred to the hotels where they had registered for the mandatory quarantine.

The first flight in the series, with 186 passengers had taken off on 21st July 2020. The next flight under this joint initiative is scheduled to take-off from Ras Al Khaimah airport to Mangalore on 10th August 2020. A few more similar repatriation flights are to soon follow, in the coming weeks.

Bengaluru, Aug 2: All the seven Airports in Karnataka have seen poor traffic even after the restoration of domestic flight services post covid-19 lockdown. Interestingly, Mangaluru International Airport, the second biggest in the state, has slipped to third position in number of number of passengers and flights. 

Of all the seven airports in State-- Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, Kalaburagi and Vijaynagara (Hosapete)-- it was the Sambra (Belagavi) airport which saw the highest number of passengers and flights after Bengaluru. 

According to Airports Authority of India report released on their website recently, the Sambra airport outperformed the Managluru international airport in June. 

As many 10,224 passengers travelled to or from Belagavi airport in June, whereas Mangaluru airport saw a footfall of only 8,608 passengers including 3,726 international and 4,882 domestic passengers. Belagavi airport handled 391 flights whereas Mangaluru airport handled 190 flights.

Even the Bengaluru international airport saw a decline in the number of passengers and flights in June. Only 3.69 lakh domestic and 10,654 international passengers arrived or departed from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru in June as against 27.59 lakh total passengers in June 2019. 

Between April-June 2020 the Bengaluru airport saw only 4.54 lakh total passengers (domestic and international) as against 84.11 lakh total passenger during the same period last year. The number of flights to and from Bengaluru also saw a huge dip in June with only 731 international (2,582 in June 2019) and 4290 domestic (16,216 in June 2019) flights.

Though the Mysuru domestic airport handled a higher number of flights compared to last June, the number of passengers either arriving or departing saw a decline. Last year June 4,775 passengers travelled in 96 flights, whereas in June 2020 the airport handled 3,158 passengers and 330 flights.

Hubballi airport saw the least number of passengers or flights among the seven airports in Karnataka in June. It saw only 55 passengers either arriving or departing from the city's airport in 14 flights in the month of June. In the same month last year, Hubballi airport, which was third busiest before the pandemic, had facilitated 45,973 passengers and handled 604 flights.

Since April 2020 to June, the Hubballi airport has handled only 18 flights (as against 1,958 during the same period last year) and 122 passengers (1,50,416 between April-June 2019).