Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday urged Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia to facilitate, at the earliest, a temporary ‘air transport bubble’ agreement with Singapore and Malaysia to help ease the difficulties faced by the Tamil diaspora in those two countries.
Tamilians with permanent residentship of Singapore and Malaysia and others from Tamil Nadu who travelled to India during the pandemic were struggling to return in the absence of direct flights. They have to make a long detour through Dubai, Doha and Colombo, which is causing them serious inconvenience and financial strain, he said.
“In addition, due to the lack of agreement of temporary ‘air transport bubble’ between the countries of Singapore and Malaysia, the travel business is being cornered by other foreign airlines like Qatar Airways, Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines and not to our country’s airlines,” Stalin said in a letter to Scindia.