Another flight to Valley takes off

Chandigarh, November 1

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

SpiceJet reintroduced its direct flight to the Valley. 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, said airport CEO Sunil Dutt.

Meanwhile, IndiGo, which had introduced a daily direct flight between Chandigarh and Bengaluru 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 Bengaluru which will depart at 8.15 am, 2.30 pm and 4.35 pm. From Bengaluru, the 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 Bengaluru.

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. —TNS