Pics: Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, May 1: Opening up a new, affordable option to air passengers from Mangaluru to Bengaluru and Mumbai, the low-cost carrier IndiGo airline on Monday May 1 launched its operations to these cities in a ceremony held at Mangalore International Aiport here.
District in-charge minister Ramanath Rai along with MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and other dignitaries formally inaugurated IndiGo daily flight operation from Mangaluru to Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Airport director J T Radhakrishna and other officials of the airport cut a cake on the occasion.
IndiGo has three daily flights from Mangaluru, of which two flights will depart to Bengaluru and the other flight will depart to Mumbai. From May 15, additional IndiGo flight to Bengaluru will be launched. Mangaluru to Bengaluru flight is scheduled to depart at 7 am, Mangaluru to Mumbai flight is scheduled at 12 noon flight and Mangaluru to Bengaluru flight is scheduled at 16:20 pm. From May 15, additional flight from Mangaluru to Bengaluru is scheduled to depart at 10 pm.
The inaugural flight 6E 6724 was greeted with the traditional water cannon salute after it landed at Mangaluru International Airport from Bengaluru. The captain greeted the passengers, who were all Mangalureans, in Kannada, and also in Tulu and Konkani, much to their delight.
MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLA Abhaychandra Jain, MLA J R Lobo, IndiGo manager Archana were present.
Speaking to daijiworld, airport director Radhakrishna said, "Indigo has come out with four flights at a time. Three flights have been flagged off today and the other one will take off on May 15. All flights are Airbus 320 with 180 seating capacity in each. This will further improve the passenger travelling capacity of the airport. Now with 4 flights introduced from Mangaluru, a maximum of about 700 passengers can depart and arrive at a time, so overall, 1,500 extra passengers will travel.
"It will be a big jump for the city and the airport, which will improve commercially and lead to buisness development in and around the airport. This will be convienient to people of Mangaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kasargod. The timings of the flights are very convienient for passengers and are also priced reasonably," he said.
About IndiGo
IndiGo is India's largest airline with a market share of 29.9% as of March 2017. IndiGo is one of the fastest growing low cost carries in the world. IndiGo has a simple philosophy: offer fares that are always low, flights that are on time, on a travel expirience that is courteous and hassle free. IndiGo with a technical dispatch reliability of 99.85% has one of the best on time performance in India. With its fleet of 133 airbus A320 family aircraft, the airline operates 914 daily flights connecting 44 destinations.