Flight services up from Vijayawada, Vizag airports

Vijayawada: Flight services are gradually increasing from Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. The Air India Express as part of its winter schedule has expanded its services from these cities, increasing the number of weekly flights from 173 last winter to about 250 this season – a remarkable 45 per cent rise in operations.

This expansion includes new direct routes connecting Hyderabad with Gwalior and Visakhapatnam with Vijayawada, as well as increased frequencies on routes from Hyderabad to Bengaluru and Kochi.

Giving details of the increase in flight operations from two Telugu states, Dr Ankur Garg, chief commercial officer, Air India Express, said, “By increasing our operations from these three important cities of AP and Telangana, we are reinforcing our commitment to the region, connecting it more effectively with the rest of India and the Middle East.”

He said the passenger traffic is gradually increasing from Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam airports in recent months. He said Air India Express operates 23 weekly flights from Vijayawada, connecting directly to three domestic destinations: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam, and one international destination: Sharjah.

Garg informed that the airline also provides one-stop connectivity to 15 domestic destinations: Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Jaipur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, and Varanasi. Referring to Visakhapatnam, Ankur Garg said from Visakhapatnam the Air India Express operates 28 weekly flights connecting directly to three domestic destinations: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Vijayawada.

The airline provides one-stop connectivity to 21 domestic destinations: Ayodhya, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Gwalior, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Srinagar, Sri Vijaya Puram, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, and Varanasi and three international destinations, including Dammam and Jeddah.

Hyderabad, with about 200 weekly flights, stands the third largest station in the Air India Express network. He said direct flights are operated from Hyderabad to 17 domestic destinations and all three major airports in Saudi Arabia open new opportunities in this rapidly growing market.

Air India Express operates about 200 weekly flights from Hyderabad, connecting directly to 17 domestic destinations including Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Gwalior, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Srinagar, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam, and three international destinations: Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh.