The Hindu

Mangalore, Nov 9: The number of flights between Mangalore and Bangalore has been slashed to two a day. As a result, the passengers are left with one flight each in the morning and the evening to travel between the two cities.

Earlier, there were six daily flights between the two cities — three in the forenoon and another three in the afternoon. It had come down to three operations a day a few days ago.

The reduction in the number of flights between the two cities appears to be the result of the proposed alliance between Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways and increase in air fares.

At present, Kingfisher Airlines operates the two flights. Its morning flight arrives here at 8.30 am and departs at 9 am The evening flight arrives at 6.30 pm and departs at 7 pm, M R Vasudeva, director, Mangalore Airport of the Airports Authority of India, said.

The Jet Airways suspended its morning flight, which was arriving from Bangalore at 9.05 am and departing at 9.40 am, from November 1. With this, the number of flights between the two cities had come down to two a day, he said.

Temporary suspension

Pramod Nair, station manager, Jet Airways, had told The Hindu recently that the suspension of its morning flight was temporary. It would re-introduce from November 16.

Nair said that the Jet Airways would also re-introduce its evening flight, which was arriving here at 7 pm and departing to Bangalore at 7.40 pm, from November 16.

Both these flights of Jet Airways were Boeing 737 aircraft. The airliner would replace them with ATR, the smaller aircraft, from November 16 because the passenger traffic between the two cities had declined, he had said.

Decline

Vasudeva said that earlier an average of 16,000 and 18,000 passengers used to travel between Mangalore and Bangalore every month. It had come down to below 13,000 passengers a month in October.

Sources in the airport said that the airliner operating to Bangalore was charging Rs. 8,500 a passenger as one-way fare, if tickets were not booked in advance. This airliner, which has 70 seating capacity, was going full, the sources said.

According to sources, the one-way airfare to Mumbai has gone up to Rs. 9,500 a person.

Some passengers say that the aircraft take more time for the two-way journey between Mangalore and the Bangalore International Airport owing to heavy traffic in the State capital. By adding the waiting time at the airport, a passenger had to spend more time than earlier. This had prompted many passengers to opt for other modes of transport to travel between the two cities, sources said.