Vijayawada: A team from IndiGo Airlines, led by its Associate Director – Sales (South India) Saurabh Sachdeva, called on the office-bearers of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) at AP Chambers Office here on Thursday. AP Chambers’ team, led by its president Potluri Bhaskara Rao, briefed the IndiGo team on the potential of Vijayawada region and opportunities available for IndiGo in Vijayawada region. Bhaskara Rao thanked IndiGo for launching Vijayawada-Kurnool direct flight. He requested the airline to introduce more direct international connectivity from Vijayawada. One person at least from almost every family in the State is an NRI, he pointed out. According to estimates, there are around five lakh NRIs in the catchment area of Vijayawada.
Many family members, parents, and a huge student population are migrating to various countries. The region has a huge potential for more international connectivity to Dubai, Singapore, and other destinations. Before the pandemic, IndiGo operated a direct flight from Vijayawada to Singapore with more than 80 percent occupancy. Besides Amaravati capital city construction works, industrial activity has picked up a lot in the region. With this, the demand for more international connectivity has increased. In the past few months, Vijayawada airport has witnessed 30,000 to 40,000 increases in air passenger traffic. Hence, AP Chambers requests IndiGo to operate direct flights between Vijayawada-Dubai and Vijayawada-Singapore. “Most of the aircrafts that IndiGo operates from Vijayawada are small aircrafts.
We request the airline to operate large aircrafts such as Airbus or Boeing as bigger aircrafts have the capacity to carry 2 to 3 tonnes of belly cargo. IndiGo may start direct flights between Vijayawada-Varanasi, between Vijayawada-Ahmedabad or Surat and between Vijayawada-Kolkata via Visakhapatnam.” IndiGo is requested to explore code-sharing agreements with international flights for flights operating from Vijayawada. IndiGo has code-sharing agreements with international airlines operating from many cities in India. However, IndiGo does not have code-sharing agreements with international airlines for its flights operating from Vijayawada. Code-sharing will help air travellers with seamless booking experience, efficient baggage transfers, and better connectivity to major international destinations. IndiGo Associate Director – Sales for AP & Telangana BVB Chary and Sales Manager for AP Mohit Krishna were part of the discussion.
