IndiGo and Air India to introduce an additional frequency on Rajkot-Mumbai route

Rajkot is getting all the love from two of India’s largest airlines – IndiGo and Air India. Both the airlines will introduce an additional frequency on the busiest route out of Rajkot, i.e. to Mumbai.

IndiGo

As of 24th April 2023, IndiGo will operate a morning frequency between Mumbai and Rajkot. This will be third daily flight by IndiGo on this particular route. The other two flights operate in the afternoon and evening.

The new morning flights will operate with the following schedule:

• Mumbai-Rajkot
• Departure time: 07:25
• Arrival time: 08:35
• Flight time: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Flight number: 6E5131
• Frequency: Daily

• Rajkot-Mumbai
• Departure time: 09:05
• Arrival time: 10:20
• Flight time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Flight number: 6E5132
• Frequency: Daily

These flights will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft featuring standard Economy Class seats. Note that these flights will operate to/from Terminal 1 of Mumbai Airport (IndiGo operates from two different terminals from Mumbai so be sure to check the terminal number to avoid last minute rush).

Air India

Starting 3rd May 2023, Air India will operate an early morning flight between the two cities with the following timings:

• Mumbai-Rajkot
• Departure time: 05:05
• Arrival time: 06:10
• Flight time: 1 hour and 05 minutes
• Flight number: AI659
• Frequency: Daily

• Rajkot-Mumbai
• Departure time: 06:45
• Arrival time: 08:05
• Flight time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Flight number: AI688
• Frequency: Daily

These flights will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft featuring recliner-style Business Class seats and standard Economy Class seats. Air India operates all its flights out of Terminal 2 from Mumbai. The new flight is in addition to the already-operating afternoon flight.

This is not the first time that Air India is introducing an early morning flight between Rajkot and Mumbai. In 2021, the then government-owned Air India used to run an early morning flight with similar timings but due to unknown reasons, the flight stopped operating.

Airlines continue to expand at Rajkot

IndiGo is the largest airline at Rajkot. The airline will now operate 3-flights-a-day to Mumbai while one each to Delhi and Bengaluru. The largest low-cost airline of India also operates a thrice-weekly flight to North Goa while it will soon launch daily flights to Udaipur and Indore from Rajkot.

On the other hand, Air India will now have 3-flights-a-day from Rajkot, two to Mumbai and one to Delhi. The exit of SpiceJet from Rajkot in the summer schedule of 2023 has not impacted the city that much, due to the unreliable operations it had (if you know, you know 😉).

Rajkot is a hub of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat for air traffic. People from neighbouring cities of Jamnagar, Morbi, Junagadh and Porbandar rely on Rajkot for air connectivity (Jamnagar has a single daily Air India A320 flight to Mumbai).

I have been following the daily passenger numbers at Rajkot Airport by the airport authorities and looking at that, it’s one of the most steadily growing markets in terms of passenger traffic. Irrespective of the season, the traffic has been steadily growing at the airport, so it’s natural for airlines to grab every opportunity they have to expand from the city.

In fact, Rajkot used to have 5-flights-a-day to Mumbai back in the day when Jet Airways was alive. Jet Airways used to have 4-flights-a-day to Mumbai while Air India used to have one-flight-a-day. So all-in-all, it’s back to Jet Airways days, albeit with different airlines. 😉

Rajkot is soon getting a new international airport which is located 30 kilometres away from the city. The currently-operational airport, located in the city-centre, has no scope for expansion so the government decided to build a whole new airport to cope up with the increasing air traffic. The new airport is expected to be operational this July or August.

Rajkot-Mumbai and Vadodara-Mumbai will have the same number of flights soon as Vadodara is also getting three new flights to Mumbai soon, the details of which will be covered in a separate article soon. Both the routes will just be behind Ahmedabad-Mumbai route, which has multiple daily flights operated by different airlines. I am talking only about the state of Gujarat here, not the whole of India.

All-in-all, the steadily growing market in addition to the large catchment area that airlines have mean that it’s a win-win situation for the airlines and the people of Rajkot and the surrounding region.

Meanwhile, IndiGo recently strengthened its international network from Mumbai.

Featured image by IndiGo and Air India

What do you think of IndiGo and Air India launching an additional daily flight on Rajkot-Mumbai route? Let me know in the comments section below.

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