According to airline officials, the regular service between Nanded and Hyderabad has seen more than 50 per cent booking in its flights in both directions. (Representational image/ Pixabay)
Regional carrier Trujet has decided to extend its Hyderabad-Nanded service till Mumbai, under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), from the first week of July. The airline has received good response from passengers for its Nanded-Hyderabad route, which was launched on April 25. While the extension till Mumbai was planned since then, various reasons delayed the launch.
“We were waiting for specific clearances concerned with flying. We have also been allotted a slot from Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) for the same. We are sure of starting it from this July,” a senior Trujet official said. The airline operates a 72-seater ATR on the route.
According to airline officials, the regular service between Nanded and Hyderabad has seen more than 50 per cent booking in its flights in both directions. “We will offer a regular service to passengers for Mumbai with these flight services. Once the Mumbai route is initiated, we will prepone the present scheduling of flight to adjust the additional stoppage,” a senior Trujet official said.
Officials claim the religious importance of Nanded will invite huge traffic from Mumbai. “We expect the service to go full. There is immense demand from passengers of Mumbai for this service. Not only does this save journey time but it also cuts down time for commuters planning a trip to neighboring cities like Aurangaabd and Parbhani,” said Daljeet Singh, a representative of Nanded Gurdwara Board from Hyderabad.
The fares, though not finalised, will follow the norms under RCS, officials said. Under this, fare per seat will not go beyond Rs 2,500. The airline charges between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,600 for its present route.
“Two slots have been given to the airline a month back. The airline chooses to use the number of slots it may need,” a senior MIAL official said.
The airline plans to increase trips if the route received such demand. “Once the schedule gets finalised for operations, we will start the booking option,” Trujet official added.
At present, the service commences at 12.05 pm from Hyderabad and takes an hour to reach Nanded. After extending the route till Mumbai, the service will be preponed to 9.25 am from Hyderabd so that it can reach Mumbai at around 12 pm after its stop at Nanded.
“It will take an hour and fifteen minutes to reach Mumbai from Nanded. As we have been offered one slot from Mumbai International Airporrt Limited (MIAL), we will cater to a single trip every day. The return trip from Mumbai is planned at 12.45 pm,” the official added.
Meanwhile, low-cost carrier SpiceJet has decided to launch daily direct flights to Porbandar and Kandla from Mumbai from July 10.
