IndiGo has announced that it is expanding its summer schedule operations in Rajkot with new flights to three Indian destinations.
Rajkot expansion
Starting 28th March 2023, IndiGo will operate 3-flights-a-week between Rajkot Airport and New Goa Manohar International Airport (MOPA) with the following schedule:
- Goa-Rajkot
- Departure time: 11:10
- Arrival time: 12:45
- Flight time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
- Flight number: 6E6935
- Frequency: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
- Rajkot-Goa
- Departure time: 13:15
- Arrival time: 14:50
- Flight time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
- Flight number: 6E6936
- Frequency: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
These flights will be operated by IndiGo’s A320 aircraft.
As of 1st May 2023, IndiGo will operate a daily flight from Rajkot Airport to Udaipur’s Maharana Pratap Airport and Indore’s Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar International Airport. All of these flights will be operated by the same aircraft, with the aircraft operating Indore-Rajkot-Udaipur-Rajkot-Indore rotation daily.
The flights will be operated with the following schedules:
- Indore-Rajkot
- Departure time: 06:30
- Arrival time: 08:20
- Flight time: 1 hour and 50 minutes
- Flight number: 6E7436
- Frequency: Daily
- Rajkot-Udaipur
- Departure time: 08:40
- Arrival time: 09:55
- Flight time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Flight number: 6E7437
- Frequency: Daily
- Udaipur-Rajkot
- Departure time: 10:15
- Arrival time: 11:35
- Flight time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Flight number: 6E7425
- Frequency: Daily
- Rajkot-Indore
- Departure time: 11:55
- Arrival time: 14:00
- Flight time: 2 hours and 05 minutes
- Flight number: 6E7426
- Frequency: Daily
These flights will be operated by IndiGo’s ATR72-600 aircraft.
Goa connection
Rajkot-Goa route used to be operated by SpiceJet’s Bombardier Q400s some time ago. However, since then, the airline has pulled out of the route as a result of the airline’s continuous shrinkage since the last few months.
IndiGo has a habit of letting others (in most cases, SpiceJet) build a new market and then enter and conquer it. Rajkot-Goa is yet another market where IndiGo is doing this. The gap left by SpiceJet in this highly-demanded market is being filled by IndiGo, and that too at a time when it is a peak season in Goa and tourists flock over to enjoy Goa’s laid-back lifestyle, beautiful beaches and stunning Portuguese architecture.
IndiGo is keeping things safe and simple as of now by keeping the frequency of flights at 3-weekly. It seems that the airline is just testing the market at its side and will ramp up as and when the market matures. Prices for flights on North Goa-Rajkot and Rajkot-North Goa routes start at ₹3850 ($47 approximately) one-way.
Related: IHCL to open a SeleQtions hotel in Rajkot, Gujarat
Direct connection to the city of lakes
Now, let’s look at new Udaipur flights. Udaipur is a highly tourist-centric destination known for its heritage palaces, the stunning Aravali Range, beautiful lakes and luxury resorts. This will be the first time that Rajkot will be connected nonstop to Udaipur. IndiGo will have a monopoly on this route.
Again, the timing of the launch of these flights is the same when holiday travel is at its peak in the summer season, signalling that IndiGo is targeting holidaymakers. These flights will not only cater to tourists but will also open up easy access to the surrounding area of Udaipur for the people of Rajkot.
I am a little bit skeptical about the daily frequency as this is a totally new market for the airline as well as for the travellers. It remains to be seen whether the route will sustain after the peak holiday period or will IndiGo scale back its operations on the route.
Prices for Rajkot-Udaipur and Udaipur-Rajkot flights start at ₹3600 ($44 approximately) and ₹3800 ($46.5 approximately) respectively.
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Nonstop to Madhya Pradesh, for the first time!
Like Udaipur, IndiGo will connect Rajkot with Indore for the very first time.
Currently, Rajkot and Indore are connected by a train which takes anywhere between 12 to 14 hours. The travel time between the two cities will be reduced to only 2 hours by IndiGo.
I think that this route will see both leisure travellers visiting Indore and the surrounding cities like Ujjain as well as business travellers. Again, the daily frequency seems a bit high to me but IndiGo would have surely done an extensive market research. Only time will tell how the market evolves! On a positive note, IndiGo’s network management team does a great job in identifying probable routes so the chances of the airline scaling back its operations on either of the routes, whether it be Udaipur or Indore, may be less.
Prices for both, Indore-Rajkot and Rajkot-Indore flights, start at ₹4200 ($51 approximately).
Rajkot’s new airport getting ready for operations
In a recent parliament session of the Indian government, the government informed that the new airport in Rajkot is likely to be operationalised by April 2023, meaning that chances are high that IndiGo’s new Udaipur and Indore flights will take off from the new airport.
The new airport at Hirasar is located around 30 kilometres from the city on the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway and is expected to boost the industrial growth of the Saurashtra region. The brass industry of Jamnagar and ceramic industry of Morbi majorly depend on Rajkot for air connectivity.
The new greenfield airport is being developed at the cost of ₹1,400 crore and the terminal will be capable of handling 1,300 passengers during peak hours. It will be spread over 1,032 hectares and will have all modern facilities for passengers.
There are also plans to develop ample parking space. The airport will have a single runway which will be 3,040 metres long so as to enable landing and takeoff of Boeing B777-300ER and Boeing B747-400 type of aircraft. The airport will be capable of parking 14 aircraft at any given time. According to Airports Authority of India, the design of the Hirasar airport is influenced by the existing palaces of Rajkot like Ranjit Vilas Palace.
A look at IndiGo’s Rajkot operations in the upcoming summer schedule
IndiGo launched flights to Rajkot in March 2021 with daily flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It was a major capacity boost at Rajkot Airport and IndiGo was successful on three out of the four routes (Hyderabad has gone off IndiGo’s Rajkot map). The airline has been able to build the market well for itself, even going twice-daily on Rajkot-Mumbai route.
In the upcoming summer schedule which begins from 26th March 2023, IndiGo will have flights to six cities across India from Rajkot. These are Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, North Goa, Udaipur and Indore.
As of 1st May 2023, IndiGo will have up to 7 daily flights from Rajkot depending on the day of week. IndiGo will fly twice-daily to Mumbai while once-daily to all other destinations except North Goa, where it will fly 3-weekly. This is the largest schedule by any airline in the history of Rajkot.
It’s also rumoured that Rajkot will be connected nonstop to Kolkata by IndiGo by September or October 2023 but nothing is sure as of now. It remains to be seen whether nonstop Kolkata flights happen or not but one thing is for sure, IndiGo is serious about expanding from Rajkot and this is a moment to celebrate for all the people of Rajkot who have long been demanding flights to more cities.
Featured image by IndiGo
What do you think of IndiGo’s Rajkot expansion? Let me know in the comments section below.
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