Kozhikode, Monday 06 September 2010: Activists of the DYFI on Monday took out marches to Air India booking offices at Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur protesting against the cancellation of various services of the Air India Express to the gulf from Kerala.

In Kochi, the activists raised slogans and tried to gatecrash into the city office but were stopped by police. In Kozhikode, about 150 DYFI activists took out a protest march from Muthalakkulam
maidan in the city to Air India office. They pushed the police guarding the office, barged into the office and damaged the office furniture, computers and broke the glass panes.

T.V. Rajesh, Secretary, State unit of the DYFI inaugurated the march.
Air India sources at Kochi said the Air India express had cancelled three Muscat flights per week from Kerala from September 13 and daily flights to sharjah from the Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode airports from September 20. The Thiruvananthapuram-Dubai and Thiruvananthapuram-Abu Dhabi daily flights have been cancleed from September 20.

The sources said all the passengers booked on the cancelled flights are being accommodated in Air India flight and Indian Airlines flights to the gulf, the sources said. The flights had been cancelled due to staff shortage; the sources said adding the cancellations were being made effective only after the peak rush when the schools re-opened in the gulf in the first week of September.