Mangalore - Dubai Jet Airways Flight Gets 'Water Cannon Salute' on Arrival
Daijiworld Media Network - Dubai
Dubai, Jan 4: The inaugural Jet Airways direct flight from Mangalore to Dubai landed at 10.05 pm (UAE time), to a water cannon salute at Dubai airport here on Thursday January 3.
The first guest to check-in, Abdul Muneer, cut the ribbon to inaugurate the check-in counters. He was also presented with a certificate.
Thereafter, a cake was cut to mark the launch of Dubai-Mangalore Jet Airways operations.
The return flight to Mangalore took off at 11.30 pm (UAE time).
Saleem Golandaz, manager, customer services, dnata Airport Operations, and the Jet Airways Airport and sales teams including Bram Steller (EVP, international sales), Shakir Kantawala (GM, Gulf, ME and N Africa), Rohan Alva (cargo manager, Gulf), and Sanjay Lobato (duty manager) were present.
Earlier Update (January 3)
Mangalore: First Jet Airways Direct Flight to Dubai Takes Off
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (NM)
Mangalore, Jan 3: Another dream came true for Mangaloreans when flight 9W532 of Jet Airways, the first private airlines to introduce direct flight from the city, took off at 8 pm on Thursday January 3 to Dubai.
The joy was double as the first flight had Mangalorean Capt Santhosh Prabhu as its chief pilot.
Rajesh Sequeira, coordinator of Karnataka NRI Forum (KNRIF), which played an instrumental role in getting the private airline to fly on Mangalore-Dubai route, had the privilege of being given the first boarding pass.
The occasion was blessed by religious heads of all three major communities - parish priest of Valencia church Fr Bonaventure, Ayub Musliyar and Prashant Bhat.
The flight, as expected was full to capacity.
The flag off at the Mangalore International Terminal was marked by the presence of member of Parliament Jayaprakash Hegde.
Addressing the gathering, he said, "Protector of Emigrants office in Karnataka and direct flight from Mangalore to Dubai were the two long-standing demands from Daijiworld, KNRI Forum and others. One of them has been realised today and the other one is being finalized with the ministry of finance."
He also spoke on the proposed cargo terminal and said that he was confident of getting clearance from government of India. "Competitive prices should be there so that there is no monopoly," he added.
Stressing on the need for direct flight to Saudi Arabia from Mangalore, he requested Jet Airways to start operations on this route at least once or twice a week.
Airport director Radhakrishnan thanked Jet Airways and also invited other carriers to start operations from Mangalore Airport. He further said that currently 35 flights are operating at the Mangalore Airport, which has seen tremendous achievement in all aspects over the past year.
Vasudeva Rao, former airport director and co-ordinator of Karnatka NRI Forum said, “There needs to be competition to ensure quality. Direct flight to Saudi Arabia is the need of the hour. Already a memorandum has been submitted in this regard to the authority concerned."
Gaurang Shetty, senior vice-president (commercial) Jet Airways welcomed the gathering.
Ajay Kumar, chairman of Corporation Bank also spoke on the occasion. Harish Shenoy, regional general manager of Jet Airway’s proposed a vote of thanks.
Press Meet
Prior to the launching ceremony, press meet was held in the premises of Mangalore International Airport. Addressing the reporters, Gaurang Shetty Senior Vice President, Commercial Jet Airways said, “Jet Airways is delighted to provide direct links from the chief port city of Karnataka to Dubai, which is considered to be amongst the best global business and tourism destinations in the world. We are happy to offer seamless connections to several destinations to our guests from Dubai across our global network through our existing Gulf operations. Additionally, this flight will further help strengthen our air connectivity from Tier II Indian destinations into the Gulf, catering to the large number of Indian expatriates settled in the United Arab Emirates, with convenient connections.”
Guests can enjoy an inaugural Economy Class return fare of Rs 20,360 onwards being offered on the Mangalore – Dubai - Mangalore route, on sale since 15th December, 2012, with travel valid until March 31, 2013. Similarly, the One-way fare ex-India is INR 10,101.
The new flight 9W 532 from the port city of Mangalore will depart at 2000 hrs and arrive Dubai at 2230 hrs (LT) on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.
On the return leg, flight 9W 531 will depart Dubai at 2330 hrs (LT) on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and arrive Mangalore at 0430 hrs (LT) next day.
On Fridays, flight 9W 532 will depart Mangalore at 1900 hrs and arrive Dubai at 2130 hrs (local time). On the return, flight 9W 531 will depart Dubai at 2230 hrs (LT) and arrive Mangalore at 0330 hrs (LT) the next day. On Tuesdays, flight 9w 532 will depart Mangalore at 1940 hrs and arrive Dubai at 2210 hrs (LT).
Jet Airways currently operates daily direct flights to Dubai from Delhi, and four services a day from Mumbai.
Exclusive JetEscapes holiday packages:
Jet Airways’ has also introduced exciting JetEscapes holidays for guests travelling to Dubai for the famed Dubai Shopping Festival, for travel effective January 3rd to February 3rd, 2013. Guests to Dubai, a veritable shopper’s paradise and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, may choose between two attractive holiday packages, both spread over three nights and four days.
The all-inclusive ‘Bonanza’ package starts from INR 30,800/-, and the ‘Extravaganza’ holiday package starts from INR 34,850/- respectively.
While both packages include return air travel in Economy (inclusive of all taxes), Airport transfers, 3-Star Hotel accommodation with breakfast, City Tour, Travel Insurance and earns 5 JPMiles for every INR 100 spent on JetEscapes, the ‘Extravaganza’ package also includes, in addition, a Dhow Cruise with dinner and Desert Safari with Barbeque dinner for guests.
The additional services from Mangalore will now complement the airline’s existing Gulf operations to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, Muscat and Sharjah, as well as Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam from several cities in India.