As fear of war gripped the Gulf following United States President George W Bush's 48-hour ultimatum to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, national carriers Air India and Indian Airlines are operating additional flights from Kuwait to carry Indian expatriates back home on an emergency basis.

Indian Airlines is operating an additional flight on Wednesday while the Air India is trying to get a bigger aircraft to fly on Thursday to tackle an unexpected demand, K J S Sodhi, senior diplomat with the Indian embassy in Kuwait said.

"One of the companies here decided to send home 300 Indian workers fearing war and this has put additional pressure on demand. Except for this there is no sign of an exodus," he said.

However, the president of the Gulf Malayalees Welfare Association, Rajan Daniel said more people were willing to go back to India, but there not enough additional flights being.

Sodhi said the Kuwait Civil Aviation Authority had informed that the airport would remain open as long as the aircraft are safe. The Indian national carriers had no plans to stop flights, he added.