Air India has announced that it will launch a new nonstop Bhuj-Delhi flight, complementing its daily service to Mumbai from the city.
Air India Delhi-Bhuj Flight
Starting 1st February 2025, Air India will operate a daily nonstop service between Delhi (DEL) and Bhuj (BHJ) with the following schedule:
- Delhi-Bhuj
- Departure time: 15:00
- Arrival time: 16:55
- Flight time: 1 hour and 55 minutes
- Flight number: AI2479
- Bhuj-Delhi
- Departure time: 17:30
- Arrival time: 19:35
- Flight time: 2 hours and 05 minutes
- Flight number: AI2480
These flights will be operated by Airbus A320neo aircraft and will complement the existing daily service between Mumbai and Bhuj. Since these flights’ numbers are starting with 2 followed by three numbers, they may be operated by ex-Vistara fleet. If that is indeed the case, it might be the first time a Vistara aircraft will be used to operate flights to a destination it did not serve during its nine years of operation.
Fast expansion
Air India launched flights to Bhuj on 1st March 2024 with a daily Airbus A319 service to Mumbai. Since then, those flights have been upgraded multiple times to A320neo and A321 aircraft. Currently, these flights are operated with a mix of A319, A320 and A321 aircraft.
The expansion in Bhuj comes under a year of launching operations, probably reflecting a strong demand to/from the city. The Delhi flights are timed for easy international connections from Delhi, which signals that Air India is eyeing a possible strong connecting traffic from this flight.
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Bhuj is located in the Kutch district of Gujarat. The city has a lot of VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) traffic as well as business traffic from the surrounding areas of Kandla, Gandhidham, Mandvi and Morbi. Bhuj is the gateway to the Kutch region in the state of Gujarat. The city is famous for the temples in and around the city like the Swaminarayan Temple and places like Chhatardi Bhuj, Aaina Mahal Palace, Harmirsar Lake and Prag Mahal.
In August 2024, the Federation of Kutch Industries Association (FOKIA), a chamber of industries in Kutch, demanded international flights from Bhuj. While that is a far-fetched thought, this new flight to Delhi will help a lot in international connectivity in addition to Mumbai.
Bhuj is one of the few airports which got affected by the collapse of Jet Airways a lot. The airline used to operate flights to Mumbai. With this new flight to Delhi, Bhuj will have 4-flights-a-day, two to Mumbai (one each operated by Air India and Alliance Air), a daily flight to Delhi by Air India and a daily service to Ahmedabad by Star Air.
In the past, IndiGo had been alloted slots for flights to Bhuj from Delhi and Mumbai but it has never gone ahead and actually started flights. With Air India having both these services now, has IndiGo lost its chance or will it use its classic strategy of waiting for a market to build and grow and then enter? It all remains to be seen.
Featured image by Planespotters.net/Suparat Chairatprasert
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