By IANS,
Mangalore (Karnataka): India’s leading private carrier Jet Airways late Thursday commenced its direct service to Dubai from this port city providing connectivity to the Gulf region and onward destinations in Europe and the US.
Mangalore is about 350 km from Bangalore.
Jet’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft took off from Bajpe airport at 8 p.m. with full component of passengers (170) in the economy class to land at Dubai at 10.30 p.m. (local time).
“We are delighted to provide direct link from the port city of Karnataka to Dubai, considered to be amongst the best global business and tourism destinations in the world,” Jet vice-president (commercial) Gauran Shetty told reporters on the occasion.
Congress lawmaker from the neighbouring Udupi parliamentary constituency Jayaprakash Hegde and dignitaries from aviation and travel fraternity were present on the occasion.
To operate six days a week, the flight (9W532) will provide air connectivity to the Gulf, catering to the large number of Indian expatriates settled in the UAE and onward connection to those flying to destinations in Africa, Europe and the US.
The airline has priced the inaugural return fare for the economy class at Rs.20,360 till March 31, while the one-way fare is Rs.10,101.
“We also offer seamless connections to several destinations from Dubai across our global network through our Gulf operations,” Shetty said.
The flight (9W532) will depart from Mangalore at 8 p.m. and arrive at Dubai at 10.30 p.m. (local time) Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. Departure Tuesday will be at 7.40 p.m. and arrival in Dubai at 10.10 p.m. (local time).
Friday, the flight will, however, take-off from Mangalore at 7 p.m. and land in Dubai at 9.30 p.m. (local time). Return flight will depart from Dubai at 10.30 p.m. and land in Mangalore at 3.30 a.m. Saturday.
On the return leg, the flight (9W531) will depart from Dubai at 11.30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and arrive in Mangalore next day at 4.30 a.m.
The airline currently operates daily direct flight to Dubai from New Delhi and four services a day from Mumbai.
The airline has also introduced exciting ‘JetEscapes’ holidays for guests flying to Dubai for the famed Dubai shopping festival from Thursday to Feb 3.
The additional service from Mangalore will complement the airline’s Gulf operations to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, Muscat and Sharjah, as well as to Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia from several cities in India.
The largest private carrier operates a fleet of 100 aircraft, including 10 Boeing 777-300, 11 Airbus A300-200, one A300-300, Boeing 777-700/800/900 and 19 ATR 72-500 turbo-prop aircraft.