SpiceJet reintroduces direct flight to Valley

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 31

After connecting directly with Bangalore earlier this month, the international airport in Mohali today saw a second direct flight take off for Srinagar.

SpiceJet reintroduced its direct flight to the Valley today. It took off from the city at 12.35 pm and reached its destination at 1.50 pm. From Srinagar, the direct flight to Chandigarh departed at 2.30 pm and reached here at 3.40 pm.

Indigo has already been running a direct flight from Chandigarh to Srinagar.

SpiceJet had reintroduced the daily direct flight between Chandigarh and Srinagar, which had been discontinued for some time, airport CEO Sunil Dutt told The Tribune.

Meanwhile, IndiGo, which had introduced a daily direct flight between Chandigarh and Bangalore on October 9, has increased its frequency to thrice daily. “After seeing a massive response to the single flight every day, we have increased its frequency,” the airline official said.

Now, the three daily direct flights from Chandigarh to Bangalore will depart at 8.15 am, 2.30 pm and 4.35 pm. From Bangalore, the daily direct flights to Chandigarh will take off at 7.10 am, 9.25 am and 10 am. This flight takes 3.05 hours to cover the distance without any halt.

Already, Air Asia is operating a direct flight between Chandigarh and Bangalore.

Moreover, direct flights to several other domestic destinations, which are at present not connected directly to Chandigarh, are also in an advanced stage of finalisation, the airport CEO said.

Fly to Singapore, Bangkok from March

The direct flights to Singapore and Bangkok are all set to be launched by Air India, which had launched the first international flight to Sharjah from the city on September 15.

Air India has got the requisite clearances for the direct international flights to the two countries from Chandigarh and these have been scheduled to take off before the end of the March 2017.

Air India will launch direct flights from Chandigarh to Singapore and Bangkok thrice a week.

Air India Express, a low-cost carrier and a subsidiary of the flagship carrier Air India, has inducted three new aircraft in its fleet this year and will induct three more next year. It currently operates about 350 flights per week, of which flights on the India-UAE routes account for 275 flights per week. Already, two direct flights to Sharjah (thrice a week) and Dubai (daily) have been flying from here since last month.

Winter schedule begins

The international airport has switched its timings as per the winter schedule from October 30. While the timings of international flights to Dubai and Sharjah remain unchanged, the first domestic flight now arrives here at 7.10 am instead of 7.40 am and the last domestic flight takes off from here at 8.30 pm instead of 7.30 pm.