The Hindu

Mangalore, Mar 10: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) may have to handle three more flights, one international and two domestic, at Bajpe (Mangalore) Airport from this month-end if the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approves the summer schedules proposed by two airline operators.

The summer schedules of all airline operators will come into effect from March 30.

“The Air India Express, the low-cost carrier of Air India, has proposed to introduce a weekly flight between Mangalore and Muscat-Abu Dhabi in its summer schedule. Another private airline operator has proposed an early morning and a
late evening daily flight between Mangalore and Bangalore,” M R Vasudeva, AAI director, told The Hindu.

Chellam Prasad, station manager, Air India, Mangalore, said that Air India Express, which operated its flights to Muscat-Abu Dhabi on Tuesdays and Saturdays, had proposed to operate another flight to those destinations on Thursdays in the summer schedule. “The additional flight should start from April 3,” she said and added that its departure to Abu Dhabi from here would be at 9.10 am. and arrival 6.15 pm. hours. According to Vasudeva, in the domestic sector, the early morning daily flight between Mangalore and Bangalore proposed by a private operator would arrive here at 7.30 am. and depart at 8 am. The late evening daily flight would arrive at 8.30 pm. and depart at 9 pm.

Vasudeva said that passenger traffic at the airport had gone up by 37 per cent in the first two months of this calendar year compared to the corresponding period in 2007.