TIRUCHY: Two months into the launch of service in the Tiruchy-Abu Dhabi sector, IndiGo airlines has decided to suspend all its four weekly flights in the route from October 25. While the airline has cited “operational reasons” for the suspension, the travel fraternity urges it to revoke its decision and continue to operate the flights for the benefit of “surging passenger traffic”.
Capitalising on the demand, IndiGo launched flight service in the Tiruchy-Abu Dhabi sector on August 11, 2024. Currently, the airline operates the service on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. While the airline operates flights to Abu Dhabi from 13 airports in the country, including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Lucknow, it is now suspending flights to the overseas destination from Tiruchy alone.
This comes even as Air India Express has increased its services in the sector from one to three since the Covid-19 pandemic. H Ubaidullah, an aviation enthusiast, said IndiGo has a track record of introducing and cancelling flight services from Tiruchy. It, however, seems unfair to have all four flights suspended without considering the traffic in the sector. This decision inconveniences frequent flyers, he added.
Meanwhile, travel operators said that outbound flights in the sector usually record higher passenger occupancy than inbound ones. "As the fare for the Abu Dhabi sector is somewhat higher compared to Dubai and Sharjah, passengers often choose to fly to Dubai or Sharjah and then reach Abu Dhabi by road. This may be the reason behind the operator's decision to suspend services," Nargis Beham of Al Parvez Travels said.
When enquired, official sources in IndiGo confirmed the suspension of the four flight services from October 25 over “operational reasons”. All services were scheduled to continue till the winter schedule, which begins in the last week of October. The resumption of services will be decided later, they added.