Coimbatore: A base flight has returned to the Coimbatore airport for the first time since the lockdown was imposed eight months ago. IndiGo has decided to base a flight in Coimbatore, from where it will fly to Mumbai.
IndiGo began operating the flight on November 22. It departs from Coimbatore at 6.15am and arrives in Mumbai at 8.40am. It departs from Mumbai at 8.20pm and lands in Coimbatore at 9.55pm.
The flight will be parked in the airport for nine hours. While long-term base flights will create job opportunities in mechanical and aeronautical sectors, it will provide an early morning flight option for frequent visitors to Mumbai.
While the airport will get to charge the airline a parking fee, because the flight is parked for more than three hours, it will not benefit from the VAT concession for base flights in tier II cities. “While they depart before 7am, filling one part of the criteria, the flight lands well before 11pm. However, the airline is trying to tweak the schedule, so it lands slightly later and can make use of the VAT concession,” said airport director R Mahalingam.