Air Asia India, now-a-days also known as AIX Connect under its new name, has announced that it will connect Surat, Gujarat with three metro cities starting in March 2023.
Headed to the Diamond City
Starting 3rd March 2023, Air Asia India will operate a daily flight from Surat International Airport to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport and Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.
The flights on Delhi-Surat-Delhi route will operate with the following schedule:
- Delhi-Surat
- Departure time: 08:20
- Arrival time: 10:00
- Flight time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
- Flight number: I5744
- Frequency: Daily
- Surat-Delhi
- Departure time: 11:00
- Arrival time: 12:40
- Flight time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
- Flight number: I5745
- Frequency: Daily
The flights on Bengaluru-Surat-Bengaluru route will run with the following schedule:
- Bengaluru-Surat
- Departure time: 14:25
- Arrival time: 16:15
- Flight time: 1 hour and 50 minutes
- Flight number: I5612
- Frequency: Daily
- Surat-Bengaluru
- Departure time: 16:45
- Arrival time: 19:00
- Flight time: 2 hours and 15 minutes
- Flight number: I5613
- Frequency: Daily
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The flights on Kolkata-Surat-Kolkata route will operate with the following schedule:
- Kolkata-Surat
- Departure time: 14:05
- Arrival time: 16:25
- Flight time: 2 hours and 20 minutes
- Flight number: I5588
- Frequency: Daily
- Surat-Kolkata
- Departure time: 17:00
- Arrival time: 19:45
- Flight time: 2 hours and 45 minutes
- Flight number: I5592
- Frequency: Daily
All of these flights will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft featuring standard Economy Class seats.
We are excited to announce our network expansion in the west of India, to Surat, Gujarat. The city has shown a robust demand for business and SME travel, and we believe it has great potential for future growth. We will be offering 21 weekly direct flights connecting Surat with Bengaluru, Delhi, and Kolkata, providing our guests with convenient and enjoyable travel experiences.
said Ankur Garg, Chief Commercial Officer, AIX Connect.
Much needed
The arrival of Air Asia India in Surat marks the end of a long wait by the people of Surat as they have been requesting more flights from the city for quite some time now. Since SpiceJet cut back its service in Surat, there has been a huge gap left by SpiceJet which was not filled by any airline until now.
Surat is known as the “Diamond City” of India. Many businesses are set up there and the businessmen often need to travel for work purposes. Add to that the leisure traffic. The city needed a capacity boost and Air Asia India is providing just that by arriving in the city at the right time. That saying “Better late than never” goes very well here.
On flights to Delhi, Air Asia India will compete with Air India and IndiGo while on Bengaluru flights, it will face competition from its fiercest rival, IndiGo. Air Asia India will enjoy monopoly on Kolkata route from 3rd March 2023 until 25th March 2023. On 26th March 2023, which is the first day of summer schedule 2023, Air India and IndiGo will resume flights to Kolkata from the city.
As for Surat Airport’s connectivity, there had been some rumours some time back of Vistara launching flights to the city but nothing has been officially announced by the airline yet.
Featured image by The Wire
What do you think of Air Asia India’s, or rather AIX Connect, plans for Surat? Let me know in the comments section below.
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