Winter schedule at Mangaluru International Airport to see 172 flights a week from the present 136

MIA to see 26% growth in flights Oct 29-Nov 15; SpiceJet to re-enter, Air India Express to enter domestic sector, IndiGo to add more flights on niche routes.

Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) will see growth of flights by up to 26% between October 29 and November 15 as the airlines are augmenting their winter schedule in a phased manner during the period.

Passengers will have a lot more to cheer about with MIA is looking forward to commence the start of the winter schedule from October 29 with a sense of eagerness. While SpiceJet will re-enter after a short hiatus, Air India Express will enter the domestic sector with flights to Mangaluru and Indian aviation sector leader IndiGo will add more flights on niche routes during the period, said a release.

MIA is handling 136 flights weekly, domestic as well as International, as on date. The numbers will increase marginally to 138 flights (1% growth) on October 29; rise to 145 (7%) from November 3; 158 flights (16%) from November 6 and 172 flights (26%) from November 15.

SpiceJet will introduce two daily flights to Bengaluru starting November 6 except on Tuesdays using a 78-seater Bombardier aircraft. On Tuesdays, the airline will operate only one flight. IndiGo will add a fourth daily flight to Mumbai starting November 3 and augment it to five flights on every second and fourth Saturday. IndiGo’s operation to Chennai with ATR aircraft will receive a boost with additional flights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday in addition to its existing daily flight.

There will be no change in IndiGo’s operations to Bengaluru (5 daily flights), Hyderabad (2 daily) and Delhi (1 daily). Pune will be 3 flights per week (Mon, Thu and Sun). Air India Express will start its domestic run from Mangaluru with daily two flights to Bengaluru starting November 15. The second daily flight on its inbound run will operate on Kannur-Bengaluru-Mangaluru sector and on the outbound run from Mangaluru to Thiruvananthapuram via Bengaluru.

With this, the daily flights to Bengaluru will rise to nine from the current five and Mumbai from five to six (and seven every second/fourth Saturday). IndiGo also has plans to restart through flights to Patna, Ranchi and Kolkata as the winter season that ends on March 30, 2024, progresses. Internationally, Air India Express will operate to Dubai (2 daily), Abu Dhabi (4/week); Damman and Muscat (3/week), Doha and Bahrain (2/week) and Kuwait (1/week). IndiGo will continue to operate four weekly flights to Dubai.