Dubai : Starting next month, IndiGo will fly to three more cities, offering Indians living in the UAE a cheaper option to fly to their home country.
The low-cost airline plans to start direct flights between Abu Dhabi and the Indian cities of Mangaluru, Coimbatore and Tiruchirappalli from August.
The Abu Dhabi-Mangaluru route will operate daily from August 9, while the Tiruchirappalli-Abu Dhabi route will operate four times a week from August 11, 2024. Direct flights between Coimbatore and the UAE capital will operate thrice a week from August.
The airline is offering one-way flights from Abu Dhabi to Mangaluru and Coimbatore for AED 353 and AED 330 respectively in the coming months. For travelers from the United Arab Emirates, a round-trip ticket costs only AED 843.
The UAE-India air route is one of the busiest between the two countries and 3.7 million Indians live and work in the UAE. They are the largest foreign workers in the foreign community.
Due to high demand for air travel, prices for air tickets between the two countries have risen sharply, more than doubling during peak periods such as summer holidays and New Year holidays. Travel industry executives are calling on the government to increase seating capacity to meet growing demand. Many Indians also visit Dubai for sightseeing throughout the year.
According to aviation consultancy OAG, the India-UAE route is the ninth busiest by July 2024 with 2.192 million seats.
Based on Q1 2024 data, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai, Kochi and Delhi airports were the second, third and fourth busiest destinations with 240,681, 206,139 and 203,395 passengers respectively.
With the addition of these flights, IndiGo now operates 89 weekly non-stop flights to Abu Dhabi from 13 cities in India, said Vinay Malhotra, Head of Global Sales at IndiGo.
The airline added that it offers its customers an “affordable” travel experience.
IndiGo had earlier announced that it would operate direct flights between Bangalore and Abu Dhabi six times a week from August 1. In January, the low-cost airline declared all domestic and international flights fuel-free.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.
