The Hindu Business Line : GoAir to start services to Baroda, Kochi, Pune, Indore

GOAIR, the low-cost carrier promoted by the Wadia Group, will launch services to four new destinations - Baroda, Kochi, Pune and Indore - from February1.

With its third A320 aircraft in place, the airline will also enter two new sectors - Chennai-Pune-Chennai and Pune-Ahmedabad-Pune - next month.

Continuing with its earlier practice of providing free tickets on the launch of operations to new destinations, GoAir FreeFares will offer 10,000 free tickets to the four new destinations and on the two sectors to be launched next month.

Bookings on GoAir FreeFares commenced on January 16, and are valid every day till March 26, on a `first-come first-serve' basis. Passengers availing themselves of the free fares will get a `zero fare' and will only have to pay taxes amounting to Rs 221.

GoAir FreeFares was earlier offered on the Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Goa, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Jaipur routes.

According to an official statement, the launch of the new operations would increase GoAir's route strength to 14 cities and 30 flights a day, connecting important business and leisure destinations within the country. Its existing destinations are Mumbai, Goa, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Jaipur.

The statement quoting Mr Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir, said: "During the next nine months from January to September, we would aggressively look at route expansion. The addition of new routes endorses our commitment to our passengers and will enhance the business and tourist potential of these centres."

Mr Wadia said the airline planned to acquire seven aircraft by September 2006. "We are exploring options to commence operations from cities such as Thiruvananthapuram, Nagpur, Bhubaneshwar, Srinagar, Jammu, Delhi and Kolkata. However, all this will be in a phased manner," he said.

The airline will also enter two new sectors - Chennai-Pune-Chennai and Pune-Ahmedabad-Pune.