SpiceJet to launch flight for Dubai

Neeraj Bagga

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 15

Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport’s connectivity is set to rise with the launch of a flight between Amritsar-Dubai by the budget airlines SpiceJet.

A source in airline said the flight was expected to start operations to the Gulf country in the next three to four weeks. He said its exact frequency and timing would be known once schedule arrived from airline’s headquarters at Gurgaon.

SpiceJet will be the fifth airline to operate international flight from here. Currently, Qatar Airways, Uzbekistan Airways, Turkmenistan Airlines and the national carrier Air India are operating international flights from the Amritsar airport.

Qatar Airways is operating a daily flight between Amritsar and Doha. Uzbekistan Airways is operating five days a week flight between Amritsar and Tashkent.

Turkmenistan Airlines is operating a daily flight between Amritsar and Ashgabat. Air India launched its Amritsar-New Delhi-Birmingham flight on hub and spoke model from Amritsar Airport on August 1, 2013. Air India Express is already operating a daily Amritsar – Dubai flight.

SpiceJet is expected to launch its much awaited international flight after it procured new aircrafts.

The airline operates more than 210 daily flights to 42 destinations, including 34 Indian and eight international cities. SpiceJet is known as low cost airline as it offers low air fares.

SpiceJet connects its network using next generation fleet of 19 Boeings (18 737-800 and 1 900ER) aircraft along with 15 Bombardier Q-400 aircraft. Bombardier fleet is more focused on Tier II and Tier III cities.

It may be mentioned here that many international flights were withdrawn from the Amritsar airport over a period of time. The Air India discontinued its Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight, which was termed by many as the most successful flight in the annals of the national carrier’s history. The flight, which used to witness over 90 per cent occupancy, was withdrawn on October 31, 2010. However, it was not the only flight that was discontinued from the Amritsar airport. The British Midland International (BMI) had pulled out its Amritsar-Almaty-London flight in October, 2012. Prior to it, the Air India had suspended its Amritsar-Toronto flight due to the strikes of pilots. The Singapore Airlines had launched thrice a week Amritsar-Singapore flight on October 1, 2004. The service ran well for around five years before being discontinued in early 2009. Later, Jet Airways launched its Amritsar-London flight only to withdraw it after sometime.