The Jabalpur Sangharsh Samiti has urged IndiGo Airlines to strengthen air connectivity from the city and restore discontinued flight services. Senior office-bearers of the Samiti submitted a memorandum addressed to IndiGo Director (Sales), East and Central India, Sanjeev Bhattacharya to the airline’s Madhya Pradesh Sales Head, Kunwar Rawat, in Bhopal. In the memorandum, they highlighted the steady decline in air services from Jabalpur and sought restoration of flights that have been discontinued over the past few years. Senior office-bearers of the Samiti said Jabalpur is an important divisional headquarters and a major centre for industry, education, trade and tourism in Madhya Pradesh. However, the reduction in air services has caused inconvenience to business travellers, tourists and residents, besides affecting the city’s overall development. They said the frequency of IndiGo’s Mumbai and Bengaluru flights has recently been reduced from daily operations to four days a week.

 

The decision has caused resentment among regular flyers. They further said Jabalpur was earlier connected by regular flights to several major cities, including Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai. At present, the city has air services only to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Indore. Senior office-bearers said the shrinking air network has adversely affected business, tourism and investment prospects in the region. Samiti convenor Himanshu Khare and other members demanded that IndiGo restore regular and adequate flight services from Jabalpur and resume discontinued routes at the earliest. They also urged the State Government to introduce special incentive schemes to attract more airline operators to the state and develop Jabalpur Airport as a regional aviation hub. They also appealed IndiGo's top management to take concrete steps to expand and restore the city's air connectivity.