Air India has decided to terminate all its flights from Kuwait to Kerala at Mumbai till the conflict in Iraq is resolved, a senior airline official said on Thursday.

However, the carrier was providing convenient connecting flights to all domestic destinations, including in Kerala, from Mumbai, at no additional cost to the passenger, Air India Regional Director P P Singh said in Dubai.

The decision to suspend the Kuwait-Kerala direct flights from March 19 was taken so airline crew would not have to stay overnight in Kuwait, he said.

Indian Airlines, however, would operate all its direct flights, Regional Director R C Kathuria said.

"We have two sets of crew with every flight so that the second set can bring the flight back," he said.

Meanwhile, unlike other carriers, both A-I and IA have decided not to levy the $25 insurance surcharge per sector.

"The government does not want to burden the Non-Resident Indians in Kuwait," Singh said.

Both Air India and Indian Airlines officials said the demand for seats from Kuwait to India had gone up after the war began but came down subsequently. The national carriers were fully geared to meet any additional demand, the officials assured.

PTI