IndiGo is offering additional flights to popular beach destinations of Port Blair, Goa, and Kochi this winter in order to strengthen regional connectivity. The airline is witnessing high demand for new flights as Indian passengers return in huge numbers for the busy holiday season.

These flights also come at a time when IndiGo has improved its on-time performance considerably and is currently the most punctual airline in the country.

21 additional flights

IndiGo has announced that it will offer more flights out of Kolkata and Hyderabad to popular beach destinations such as Goa, Kochi, and Port Blair. These seasonal additions are being introduced to cater to the current traffic and improve accessibility in the regions.

IndiGo Airbus A320
Photo: MMXeon/Shutterstock

Vinay Malhotra, Head of Global Sales, IndiGo, commented,

“We are witnessing high traffic demand which is enabling the industry's recovery. As beach destinations are in high demand from October to February, these new flights will increase direct connectivity from Hyderabad and Kolkata to Port Blair, Kochi, and Goa respectively. Our winter schedule flights will add capacity and make travel affordable, while offering more options to customers. We will continue to uphold our promise of providing a courteous, on-time, hassle-free, and affordable travel experience.”

One of the new flights is between Kolkata and Goa, and the other is between Hyderabad and Kochi. All the rest are between Hyderabad and Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Routes
Photo: Gcmap.com

This comes shortly after IndiGo announced more than 160 flights to and from the New Goa International Airport in Mopa, North Goa, from January 5th. The airline will connect the new airport with eight cities but will also continue operating out of the old airport.

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Preparing for 777 operations

Another significant development at IndiGo is its upcoming Boeing 777 flights to Turkey, for which it recently sought final approval from the DGCA. The airline has wet-leased the widebody planes from Turkish Airlines and received an in-principle approval from the Indian regulator. As per the prescribed procedure, it then asked for a final nod from the authorities before deploying the aircraft next month.

The airline will soon make this 777-capacity available for sale on the Delhi-Istanbul-Delhi and said that the wet lease solution would also enable it to better utilize its A321 fleet to continue its network deployment in light of the global supply chain issues.

IndiGo Airbus A321
Photo: Soos Jozsef/Shutterstock

IndiGo has had to ground several of its A320 family of planes due as it awaits engines and spare parts. But the issue is expected to resolve in the next few months, as engine maker Pratt & Whitney has committed to clearing its backlog by early next year.

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Recently, the DGCA relaxed its rules to allow IndiGo to wet lease the 777s for six months with the option of extending it by additional six months.

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