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Alliance Air mulls daily flight on Bathinda-Delhi route
The airline is encouraged by 80% average occupancy of its thrice-a-week flight
Encouraged by the 80% average occupancy of the Bathinda-Delhi flight on thrice-a-week schedule, Alliance Air is contemplating a daily flight on the route.
Officials said a feasibility report by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has stated that the Bathinda airport can handle additional flights planned by the national airline carrier authorities.
Bathinda airport director Varinder Singh told HT on Wednesday that a final decision in this regard will be taken soon by the higher authorities.
He said a single 70-seater ATR-72 plane that is operating on Delhi-Bathinda route since December 12, 2016, has an average occupancy of 80%.
Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, is the sole carrier connecting the two cities on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
If the directorate general, civil aviation, (DGCA) approves the proposal of additional flights, it would be implemented in the summer schedule that starts from March 29 onwards, said officials.
They said the high occupancy rate is an indicator that increased frequency will not be a loss-making venture on the route.
“Besides defence establishments in Bathinda, there is a central university. The opening of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has further increased the scope of air passengers,” said another AAI functionary.
DECISION ON JAMMU
FLIGHTS IN APRIL
Meanwhile, the Bathinda airport director said the future of the suspended Bathinda-Jammu flight will be known by the end of March.
Flights on the Bathinda-Jammu route have been lying non-operational since October 27 when the winter schedule (between October 27 and March 28, 2020) was announced.
The Alliance Air flight was operating flights five days a week on the Jammu route. These flights were suspended till March 31 due to maintenance work at the Jammu airport and the low occupancy rate.
An official, seeking anonymity, said earlier it was proposed that the flight to Jammu from Bathinda will operate thrice a week — instead of five days a week — to cut down its operational cost.
“As per the initial proposal, a single 70-seater ATR-72 plane operating between Jammu and Delhi was to make a brief layover at the Bathinda airport. To bring down operational costs, it was proposed to use a single aircraft to cover three destinations—Delhi, Bathinda and Jammu. But the proposal was shelved last year,” the official said.
