IndiGo starts direct flights from Kolkata to Yangon

NEW DELHI: Continuing its international expansion, India’s largest airline IndiGo on Friday started daily direct flights from Kolkata to Yangon in Myanmar.With this development, Myanmar has become IndiGo’s fifth destination in Southeast Asia.

The new flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travellers who are on lookout for new and affordable flying options between the two nations, IndiGo said. The fare for one-way journey has been kept at Rs 5,999. Myanmar has a large Buddhism community and that it was the airline’s privilege to enable direct connections between Buddhist circuits of the two nations, said William Boulter, IndiGo’s chief commercial officer.

“Yangon being the largest city in Myanmar, we believe that increased connectivity between India and Myanmar will enhance cultural exchange and social cohesion between the countries,” he said, adding the airline would be adding capacity as and when the airline can.

So far this year, the airline has started sales of tickets for seven new international destinations.
Apart from Yangon, services have been commenced to Istanbul in Turkey, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Chengdu in China. Flights to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia would commence from October this year.

With its fleet of more than 200 aircrafts, the airline offers over 1,400 daily flights and connects 58 domestic destinations and 22 international destinations.

According to the latest Directorate General of Civil Aviation data, IndiGo continues to dominate the Indian airspace. Its share in the month of July in the domestic market was 47.8 per cent, while it reached a peak 49.9 per cent in April this year.