VIJAYAWADA: Tickets for the first flight to Singapore from Vijayawada airport were made available for booking by Indigo airlines on Friday. The first flight to Singapore will take off from Vijayawada airport on December 4.
The fare from Vijayawada to Singapore will be around Rs 7500, and the round trip will cost over Rs 18,000. Indigo’s 180 seaters Airbus A320 will be operated on this route.
Initially, the officials had planned to roll out the international services from October 25, but due to a disagreement between Department of Customs and Airport Authority of India (AAI) on expenditure and arrangement of infrastructure for setting up of customs operations has led to the delay.
The customs regulatory approval was received only a few days prior to October 25, the day the first international flight was to operate. Later, the date was moved to December 4.
Indigo Airlines was selected as the operator to provide flights between Vijayawada and Singapore through a tender process which was run by Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Limited (APADCL).
The bi-weekly flights will be operated on Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support from the State government.
For a long time now, the State government and the airport authority were planning to connect the capital region (Vijayawada airport) to international destinations. The airport authority has also initiated talks with other airlines such as Singapore based Silk Air and Dubai based Emirates.
As of now, the Gannavaram Airport handles almost one lakh passengers every month, operates 26 flights and provides over 50 services.
At a glance
These will be the first international flight from the city to Singapore
They will operate twice every week, on Tuesday and Thursday
Price- 7,500 from city to Singapore