Arunkumar HuralimathHUBBALLI: Hubballi-Hyderabad direct flight began operation on Wednesday and there was a decent number of passengers on the first-day flight. Indigo airlines operate an ATR craft daily in this sector.
SpiceJet, later Alliance Air, was connecting these two cities. The service was withdrawn following the Covid-19 situation in the country. Though there was a good demand for this sector, Alliance Air has not resumed service and now Indigo is operating a daily flight.
On the first day, 40 passengers departed Hyderabad from Hubballi and 44 arrived at Hubballi from the pearl city. The flight leaves Hubballi at 8 am and lands in Hyderabad at 9.10 am. In return, the flight leaves Hyderabad at 9.40 am and lands in Hubballi at 11 am. The flight was welcomed at Hubballi airport with a water cannon salute and there was a festive mood at the airport.
Indigo is also operating direct flights to Mangaluru and Mysuru beginning from the first week of May. It will operate for four days to Mangaluru and three days to Mysuru. As per the schedule, the flight leaves Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday to Mangaluru at 5.15 pm from Hubballi and lands in Manglauru at 6.15 pm. In return, it leaves Mangaluru at 6.35 pm and lands in Hubballi at 7.40 pm.
On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday the flight leave for Mysuru from Hubballi at 4.55 pm and lands in Mysuru at 6.05 pm. In return, it leaves Mysuru at 6.25 pm and lands in Hubballi at 7.40 pm.
Manoj Prabhu, a senior executive from Indigo said once the ongoing runway work at Ahmedabad airport gets completed, they will resume the Hubballi-Ahmedabad flight soon after getting the government nod. The “Indigo also proposed two new routes. One-stop flight to New Delhi from Hubballi via Jodhpur and Hubballi-Tirupati direct flight. Once they get a nod from the concerned department, they will begin operations by the end of May”, he added.