Jet to launch daily flights between Bengaluru-Singapore, Colombo
14 Dec 2016
Jet Airways on Tuesday announced the launch of direct daily flights from Bengaluru to Singapore and to Colombo. The airline will start its new service to Singapore from 14 December, further expanding its connectivity across the ASEAN region, the airline's vice president commercial (India) Praveen Iyer told reporters in Bengaluru.
On choosing Bengaluru as the hub for international flight services in South India, Iyer said there has been a 15-per cent growth year-on-year in the number of passengers travelling between Bengaluru and Singapore, which is set to grow further in future. There is also a growing number of leisure travellers on this sector, he said. Moreover, Bengaluru has been established as a key information technology destination and is increasingly gaining prominence as a global investment destination, resulting in a significant growth in aviation traffic both domestic and international into and out of the garden city, Iyer said.
"The startup capital of India with several Singapore based entities as key investors, also houses the headquarters of leading global corporates, accounting for significant traffic between Singapore and Bengaluru with a substantial spill-over to neighbouring towns and cities," he added.
Jet Airways already operates twice daily flights from Mumbai and Delhi and a single daily flight from Chennai to Singapore.
Starting 5 January, Jet Airways will also launch its third international direct daily flight from Bengaluru to Colombo, providing travellers a convenient link between the Indian IT hub and the Sri Lankan capital, Iyer said. Bengaluru will be the second Indian city after Mumbai to be linked to Colombo and Jet Airways third daily service to the Sri Lankan capital, expanding capacity by one-third on the route, he added.
Sri Lanka is fast emerging as a global IT-BPM destination of choice in a number of key areas, he said. The airline will deploy a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) aircraft on both these routes, Iyer said.