As the Alliance Air Flight AI 9532 from Mysuru landed at Mangaluru International Airport on its maiden flight on Friday forenoon, it heralded a new era of connectivity between the tier-2 cities known for tourism and commercial activities.
The inaugural flight of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, arrived with 25 passengers and left with 41 passengers. The inaugural flight was welcomed with a zestful water cannon salute by MIA authorities. Aboard the flight, India Post released a special cover to mark the inaugural flight. The aircraft has a capacity to seat 70 passengers. Fares between Mangaluru and Mysuru start from ₹2,531, inclusive of taxes.
The non-UDAN flight by Alliance Air AI 9532 operates four days a week [Wednesday, Friday Saturday and Sunday] leaving Mysuru at at 11.20 a.m. to reach Mangaluru at 12.30 p.m. In the return direction, Alliance Air flight AI 9533 departs Mangaluru at 12.55 p.m. to land at Mysuru at 1.55 p.m.
While the road travel takes about seven hours between the two cities famous for tourism and commercial activities and the train connectivity was very limited, the one-hour duration air service would be significant for both the cities.
The road stretch passes through the hilly terrain of Western Ghats spread over Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts making the journey tedious. Nearly 70,000 people from the coast were settled in Mysuru besides good number of entrepreneurs having business interests were spread across the two regions.
Alliance Air CEO Harpreet A. De Singh who was present for the inaugural flight at Mysuru said there was tremendous demand for the flight from the people of both Mysuru and Mangaluru. “Though we were cautious about introducing a non-UDAN flight, we went by the feedback from various trade bodies,” she added.