Media Release
Dubai, Mar 21: Air India Express, India’s first international budget airline, is set to expand its operations in summer by introducing daily flights from UAE to Mumbai. It is also introducing flights to Ras Al Khaimah.
The Mumbai-UAE flights will be operated by one of the six brand new Boeing 737 leased aircraft which are being inducted into the fleet. Two new services between Mumbai-Dubai and Mumbai-Sharjah will commence daily effective April 7, 2016. Flight IX 247/IX 248 on Mumbai-Dubai-Mumbai sector will depart Dubai at 17:10 hours. On the Mumbai-Sharjah-Mumbai sector, IX 251/ IX 252 will depart Sharjah at 02:55 hours.
The summer schedule will also witness daily operations to Delhi. Effective May 15, 2016, daily flights, IX 141/IX 142, on the Delhi-Dubai-Delhi sector will depart Dubai at 11:20 hours and effective May 16, 2016, IX 115/ IX 116, on the Delhi-Abu Dhabi-Delhi sector the flight is scheduled to depart Abu Dhabi at 00:15 hours.
On the Gulf-Kerala sector, with the introduction of the new schedule, in a phased manner from March 28, the frequency would increase to 119 flights per week from the present 96 flights a week. Air India Express has increased its focus in the Kozhikode market, the largest revenue centre of the airline, by enhancing offered capacity to an all time high of 11,718 seats per week from the present 8,184 seats.
The frequency between Dubai and Kozhikode is being doubled from daily to two flights per day effective June 1, 2016. The passengers are offered an additional evening departure of 17:00 hours from Dubai. Air India Express will also introduce daily two separate non-stop services between Kozhikode and Bahrain and Doha in the new schedule.
Frequency of flights between Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram will increase to 6 flights / week from the current 5 flights per week and the seats offered will increase to 1,116 from the present 930 seats in a week.
Non-stop Kozhikode to Dammam service four times a week is also a highlight of the summer schedule. The services from Kuwait to Kozhikode will also jump from thrice a week to 5 flights per week.
Non-stop flights with the frequency of 3 flights per week from Dammam to Kochi is another major attraction of the new schedule. All the projected changes would be made operational in a phased manner in line with the induction of leased aircraft into the airline’s fleet.
Ras Al Khaimah is being introduced as a new destination with a frequency of 4 flights per week to Kozhikode. This flight will be shared with Al Ain, thereby increasing the frequency of flights between Al Ain and Kozhikode also to 4 flights per week from the current operation of 1 flight per week. On Monday and Friday the flight will be routed as Kozhikode – Al Ain – Ras Al Khaimah – Kozhikode and on Wednesday and Saturday, the flight will be operated as Kozhikode – Ras Al Khaimah – Al Ain – Kozhikode.
Along with maintaining on time performance and close to 100% schedule integrity, Air India Express has launched initiatives for improved customer satisfaction. The airline has increased free baggage allowance for in-bound passengers to 30 kilos. Online visa facility for visit to UAE has also been introduced to facilitate hassle free journey. Responding to a long standing demand, the airline plans to offer the passengers the option to buy special meal of their choice online. Dedicated Air India Express mobile app for making and modifying bookings is also in the pipeline.
Ras Al Khaimah new destination
Air India Express is introducing Ras Al Khaimah as a new destination in its summer schedule thus becoming the only airline operating services between India and Ras Al Khaimah. It is after a long gap of more than 8 years that an Indian carrier would be operating to Ras Al Khaimah. Air India Express has thanked the civil aviation authorities of Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah for their support to these operations.
The service connecting Ras Al Khaima to Kozhikode would be operational from March 27 and would operate on four days of the week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). On Monday and Friday, the flight will be routed as Kozhikode – Al Ain – Ras Al Khaimah – Kozhikode and on Wednesday and Saturday, the flight will be operated as Kozhikode – Ras Al Khaimah – Al Ain – Kozhikode.
On Monday and Friday, the flight will depart from Kozhikode at 10:40 am and reach Ras Al Khaimah at 02:35 pm via Al Ain. On return, the flight will depart Ras Al Khaimah at 03:20 pm and reach Kozhikode at 08:40 pm.
On Wednesday and Saturday, the flight will depart from Kozhikode at 10:40 am and reach Ras Al Khaimah at 01:05 pm. On the return, the flight will depart Ras Al Khaimah at 01:50 pm and reach Kozhikode at 08:40 pm via Al Ain.
Schedule will be as under:
