In a major relief for flyers of Pune travelling to Dubai and for the Pune airport, IndiGo will start a daily flight to Dubai and a three flights in a week to Bangkok from October 27 onwards. The same was informed on X by minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol. While Mohol’s message didn’t mention the airline, Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke confirmed that both the flights will be operated by IndiGo.
“Another airline too had applied for the same but IndiGo has got the rights. They will start both the flights from the upcoming winter schedule. The days, flight timings etc, has not been decided yet,” Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke told TOI.
“The demand of Pune residents for the past several months is now being fulfilled. Pune being directly connected to an important financial center like Dubai will definitely benefit Pune and western Maharashtra. It is believed that the daily connectivity between Pune and Dubai will reduce the ‘gap’ between the two cities and open up new dimensions for economic progress.
Indian airlines carried 1.31 crore passengers in August, marking a 5.7 per cent increase from the previous year. Flight delays affected 1,79,744 passengers, with airlines spending INR 2.44 crore on facilitation. IndiGo led market share at 62.4 per cent, while SpiceJet’s share dropped to 2.3 per cent. Akasa Air topped On Time Performance at 71.2 per cent.
Moreover, tourist centers like Bangkok will also be directly connected to Pune,” minister of state for civil aviation and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol, said. The Pune airport presently has got two director international flights— to Dubai operated by SpiceJet and to Singapore which is operated by Vistara. While the Singapore flight has been operational from December 2023, the Dubai flight has been there since years now.
However, lately, the financial situation of SpiceJet has hit this flight and it has been facing inordinate delays very frequently forcing many flyers to travel to Mumbai to catch flights to Dubai rather than depending on the airline (SpiceJet). Flyers have welcomed the new flights and have said that it will bring relief to them.
