NEW DELHI: Air India will give regional connectivity a big push from next week by introducing a number of flights on small planes between metros and tier II and III cities. The airline's fully owned subsidiary, Alliance Air (AA), will start flights from Mumbai to Surat and Mumbai to Gwalior from Christmas and also three more flights from other metros.
"We will work for regional connectivity under our newly launched 'connect India' program," AI chairman Ashwani Lohani said on Wednesday. The flights from Mumbai to Surat and Gwalior that start from next Friday will be three times a week.
"From January 15, we will connect Delhi and Gorakhpur by having a flight six times a week. After that we will link Kolkata to Agartala and Bengaluru to Vijaywada. All these flights will be on AA ATRs," a senior AI official said. After the addition of the three new flights from Mumbai and Delhi, AA will have 31 cities on its network and fly 1,400 passengers daily.
AA currently has a fleet of 11 turboprops. By the end of the fiscal 2016-17, it will have 21 ATRs in its fleet. With this fleet expansion on the cards, it is in talks with several state governments to launch regional flights. The states are going to tell AA what fare to charge, to ensure affordable rates, and will bridge the airline's gap in cost and revenue through viability gap funding (VGF).
17/12/15 Saurabh Sinha/The Times Of India
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"We will work for regional connectivity under our newly launched 'connect India' program," AI chairman Ashwani Lohani said on Wednesday. The flights from Mumbai to Surat and Gwalior that start from next Friday will be three times a week.
"From January 15, we will connect Delhi and Gorakhpur by having a flight six times a week. After that we will link Kolkata to Agartala and Bengaluru to Vijaywada. All these flights will be on AA ATRs," a senior AI official said. After the addition of the three new flights from Mumbai and Delhi, AA will have 31 cities on its network and fly 1,400 passengers daily.
AA currently has a fleet of 11 turboprops. By the end of the fiscal 2016-17, it will have 21 ATRs in its fleet. With this fleet expansion on the cards, it is in talks with several state governments to launch regional flights. The states are going to tell AA what fare to charge, to ensure affordable rates, and will bridge the airline's gap in cost and revenue through viability gap funding (VGF).
17/12/15 Saurabh Sinha/The Times Of India
