Around 3 months ago, SpiceJet had suspended flights to from Pondicherry to Hyderabad and Bangalore. However, they are planning to resume flight operations on October 2. In fact, bookings have been resumed and here are the details.
SpiceJet To Resume Flights From Pondicherry To Hyderabad & Bangalore!
Pondicherry Airport will start operating flights again to Bengaluru and Hyderabad on October 2 after a pause of about three months. From June 13 to July 2, SpiceJet temporarily ceased service on the Bangalore-Pondicherry-Hyderabad route in order to move its 76-seat Q400 bombardier aircraft to a different and more lucrative route.
Jyotiraditya M. Scindia received a letter from K Lakshminarayanan, the Union’s minister of civil aviation and Pondicherry’s minister of tourism and civil aviation. He asked for the extension of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) on the route and the resumption of operations.
According to sources at SpiceJet, occupancy on flights between Hyderabad and Pondicherry is between 80 per cent and 90 per cent on weekdays and 90 per cent to 95 per cent on weekends. However, occupancy on flights between Pondicherry and Bangalore is less than 50 per cent.
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Flight Operations Were Suspended
Despite the fact that the route was initially covered by RCS for three years in 2017, it is no longer covered by the programme. Since there was no support for the viability gap, airline operators were left to bear the loss. The flights are once again accepting reservations.
SpiceJet was the only flight operator from Pondicherry Airport and decided to suspend flights due to operational difficulties. Though the exact reason was unknown, an official from AAI (Airports Authority of India) had stated that the airline would re-launch operations from next month.
However, SpiceJet had clarified that they would need more time to resume flights. In fact, the government was not aware of the suspension according to a Hindu report. Currently, the Pondicherry government is planning to expand the airport on which the Civil Aviation Ministry has expressed doubts.
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Therefore, despite the Tamil Nadu government’s claims that it was prepared to offer land, the acquisition of property for the expansion has not taken place.
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia