Muscat: Airfares on the Oman-India routes have gone up after ultra-low-cost Indian Go First stopped its operations to Oman recently.

Go First used to operate three direct flights Kochi (Monday, Thursday and Saturday) and two direct flights Kannur (Sunday and Wednesday) from Muscat every week.

It also used to operate direct flights to Mumbai every day.

Travel agents say that airfares on the Oman-India routes have gone up after Go First stopped its Oman operations. “One-way ticket prices to Kannur used to hover around OMR30 to OMR40 but now it is touching OMR100 on some days, which is around 300 per cent increase,” a leading travel agent based in Ruwi said.

Two Indian carriers used to operate in Muscat–Kannur route – one is Go Air and the other is Air India Express – which operates on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Travel agents said that many tourists and frequent flyers opted for Go First due to the timings and the fare.

An Indian traveller rued the cancellation and the soaring prices as it has forced him to alter and take a longer route to reach home. “Since the airfares on this route have gone up drastically, we have no other option but to take flights to Calicut Airport which is 3 hours away from Kannur,” Suresh Babu, a resident of Muttrah said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Go First said that it has cancelled all its flights till May 19. “We regret to inform that due to operational reasons, Go First flights scheduled till 19th May 2023 have been cancelled. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the flight cancellations. A full
refund will be issued to the original mode of payment shortly.

“We acknowledge the flight cancellations might have disrupted your travel plans and we are committed to providing all the assistance we can. As you are aware, the company has filed an application for immediate resolution and revival of operations. We will be able to resume bookings shortly. We thank you for your patience,” it said on Wednesday.

The closure of Go First brought back memories of 2019 when Jet Airways, which closed down in 2019.

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