Mangalore: The Mangalore International Airport (MIA) Users Forum staged a dharna in front of DC office on August 18, Monday demanding to introduce reduced fares of Air India express flying to Gulf countries.

As a part of Dharna, Forum Co-ordinator Prabhakara Ambalathere said the average flight fare to Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram from UAE countries was around 580 Dirhams ( Rs 9,600), but fare to Gulf from Mangalore was about 2,000 Dirhams ( Rs 33,000), which four times higher than the fares to Kerala airports.

He also urged the Civil Aviation Ministry to introduce budget airlines to MIA and set up a grievance cell at DC office to solve the issues of passengers flying to Mangalore from Gulf countries.

Prabhakara said that from the last eight years the service at MIA had been disappointing and passengers taking off and landing at MIA were facing various types of harassment.

He also urged the authorities to increase the luggage limit, proper handling of luggage and other facilities at MIA.