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Airlines busy drawing new links to Hyderabad, Bangalore

New airports slated to start operations in the next two months


Officials indicated that a clearer picture on which airline was increasing frequency or adding new links would emerge by the end of the month.



Ashwini Phadnis

New Delhi, Jan 12 With new airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore slated to start operations within the next two months a host of domestic and international airlines have already planned additional flights and new connections to make use of the new facilities coming up there.

The Executive Chairman, SpiceJet, Mr Siddhanta Sharma, told Business Line that his airline would be stationing a 189 seater Boeing 737-800 aircraft in Hyderabad when the new airport opens.

“We will operate six additional daily flights from Hyderabad including a second daily flight to Delhi and offer a twice-a-day connection between Hyderabad and Vizag,” Mr Sharma said.

The new airport in Hyderabad opens on March 16 while the Bangalore airport becomes operational at the end of March.

The President IndiGo Airlines, Mr Bruce Ashby, said that with the proposed aircraft induction programme and in view of congestion at Delhi and Mumbai airports, the airline would look at adding more flights from the two southern cities.

A spokesperson for GoAir said that in anticipation of the airport opening, the weekly departures from Bangalore had increased from 21 to 49 weekly commercial flights, while in Hyderabad, the weekly departures were up from 13 to 40 flights.

The airline would look to further increase flights from both the cities in the coming days, the spokesman added.

Officials of Air India and Jet Airways also indicated that with both airlines inducting more aircraft during the year an increase in frequency and connectivity to both cities was very much on the cards.

Airline officials indicated that a clearer picture on which airline was increasing frequency or adding new connections from the two cities would emerge by the end of the month.

“Airlines have to submit details of the flights they plan to operate during the eight-month summer season beginning March by the end of this month. In the case of Hyderabad alone, the airport would initially be able to handle 12 million passengers annually up from about 2-3 million being handled at present. This creates an opportunity for airlines,” an official said.

Among the international airlines, British Airways has already announced that it would start a five-times-a-week flight between Hyderabad and London from October 28.

“The launch of the Hyderabad flight allows passengers to travel not only to London but also catch the wave of connections to the US and other European destinations to which the airline flies,” said the airline Area Commercial Manager, Mr Gavin Halliday.

During the year both Kingfisher Airlines and Air India plan to start flights from Bangalore to the West Coast of the United States.

The Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, Mr V. Thulasidas, indicated that Air India plans a non-stop flight connecting Bangalore and San Francisco.

Related Stories:
BA flight to Hyderabad
Bangalore-Vijayawada flight
Air India’s Bangalore-San Francisco flight may take off next year
SpiceJet to connect Kolkata with Hyderabad

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