IndiGo, an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, is starting a bi-weekly flight between Raipur to Hyderabad after inordinate suspension of one flight, around a month ago. However, the flight will be operational for 18 days as of now, from July 12 to July 29. Sources in Airports Authority of India (AAI) manning operations at Swami Vivekananda Airport (SVA) while affirming the schedule of the bi-weekly flight said that the plane will take-off from Hyderabad on Wednesday and Saturday at 1410 hours and land here in Raipur at 1600 hours. In return, the flight will take off from Raipur at 1620 hours and make a touchdown in Hyderabad at 1800 hours in the evening, the sources said.

 

The sources, however, pointed out that the bi-weekly flight will be an ATR 72-600 class aircraft. “Decision to make additional flight operational was necessitated keeping in view of increasing numbers to and from Hyderabad here, even as the country’s largest budget airline is already operating two flights from Hyderabad to Raipur in morning and evening hours,” the sources added. Earlier, according to the sources, the private airlines operator used to run three flights in this profitable sector, but out of the blue suspended one flight prematurely.

 

Meanwhile, the sources also attributed that some reputed tour and travel operators in the state capital have also proposed to start a direct flight between Raipur and Ranchi since the state has been witnessing a surge of business activities, particularly those engaged in minerals and steel sectors. “Businessmen, executives and people from other allied sectors frequently travel from Jharkhand’s steel city Jamshedpur to Raipur, but they detour it through Delhi or Kolkata air sectors and some had to opt for train journeys,” they informed. If sources are to be believed some flight operators are reviewing the feasibility of Ranchi and Raipur sectors and they find the proposal meeting their operations costs with profits, air flyers from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand may soon get a new flight.