Udan flights from city fail to take off
Ayyappan.V@timesgroup.com
Chennai:29.08.2019
In the wake of regional connectivity scheme, airlines started around 30 new flights from Chennai to small towns in the past five years but they have gradually withdrawn around 11 flights and have cut down on the frequency of the rest.
However, ministry of civil aviation has listed the 30 flights as new flights started from Chennai in the past five years in an information given in Lok Sabha last month to stress on growth in connectivity to small towns. The direct flights were started by Indi-Go, SpiceJet, GoAir, Truejet and Air India. SpiceJet has cancelled five of the 11 flights it started from Chennai while IndiGo has cancelled two of the eight flights.
GoAir has cancelled two of the five flights and Trujet cancelled one flight. Air India has cancelled its Varanasi flight, which was shown as the only new service the airline started from Chennai during the period. Direct flights were pulled out from Hubli, Mangaluru, Belagavi, Rajahmundry, Bangkok, Raipur, Udaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Vijayawada and Varanasi. Air fares are high to Udaipur, Belagavi, Hubli, Raipur and Varanasi as passengers have to fly via another airport. The fares for travel next week are between ₹5,000 and ₹8,000.
An Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said airlines often try out the routes to cash in on the interest but redeploy planes on profitable routes. “Domestic airlines discontinued many flights to operate services on metro routes vacated by Jet Airways,” he said. He said when regional connectivity scheme was introduced two years ago, most airlines wanted to start a service on the routes connecting small towns without joining the scheme so that they would be able to capture the market. Major domestic airlines did not want to join the regional scheme because they have to agree to a fare cap and have to fly for a fixed number of years. An airline official said it was usual to add and withdraw flights as part of route rationalization process. Airlines have moved some of the direct flights to Bengaluru and Hyderabad from Chennai.
The airlines offer flights to Udaipur via Delhi, Raipur via Hyderabad, Belgaum via Bengaluru. This is also because of constraints in availability of parking bays at Chennai airport.
Air fares are high to Udaipur, Belagavi, Hubli, Raipur and Varanasi as passengers have to fly via another airport
Ayyappan.V@timesgroup.com
Chennai:29.08.2019
In the wake of regional connectivity scheme, airlines started around 30 new flights from Chennai to small towns in the past five years but they have gradually withdrawn around 11 flights and have cut down on the frequency of the rest.
However, ministry of civil aviation has listed the 30 flights as new flights started from Chennai in the past five years in an information given in Lok Sabha last month to stress on growth in connectivity to small towns. The direct flights were started by Indi-Go, SpiceJet, GoAir, Truejet and Air India. SpiceJet has cancelled five of the 11 flights it started from Chennai while IndiGo has cancelled two of the eight flights.
GoAir has cancelled two of the five flights and Trujet cancelled one flight. Air India has cancelled its Varanasi flight, which was shown as the only new service the airline started from Chennai during the period. Direct flights were pulled out from Hubli, Mangaluru, Belagavi, Rajahmundry, Bangkok, Raipur, Udaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Vijayawada and Varanasi. Air fares are high to Udaipur, Belagavi, Hubli, Raipur and Varanasi as passengers have to fly via another airport. The fares for travel next week are between ₹5,000 and ₹8,000.
An Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said airlines often try out the routes to cash in on the interest but redeploy planes on profitable routes. “Domestic airlines discontinued many flights to operate services on metro routes vacated by Jet Airways,” he said. He said when regional connectivity scheme was introduced two years ago, most airlines wanted to start a service on the routes connecting small towns without joining the scheme so that they would be able to capture the market. Major domestic airlines did not want to join the regional scheme because they have to agree to a fare cap and have to fly for a fixed number of years. An airline official said it was usual to add and withdraw flights as part of route rationalization process. Airlines have moved some of the direct flights to Bengaluru and Hyderabad from Chennai.
The airlines offer flights to Udaipur via Delhi, Raipur via Hyderabad, Belgaum via Bengaluru. This is also because of constraints in availability of parking bays at Chennai airport.
Air fares are high to Udaipur, Belagavi, Hubli, Raipur and Varanasi as passengers have to fly via another airport
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