Direct flights to 4 cities stopped from today, Aviation Minister will inaugurate Terminal 1, Indore will get direct connection from Jalgaon

From today Sunday, direct air connectivity from Indore to four major cities of the country has ended. Actually, Indigo Airlines has stopped all its flights to Nashik, Udaipur, Bhubaneswar and Jammu under the new summer schedule. The company had stopped booking of these flights a week ago, due to which thousands of passengers traveling to these cities will have to face a lot of trouble from today. This is a major setback in connectivity for Indore, which is the commercial hub of Madhya Pradesh, as all these cities were important for trade, tourism and religious pilgrimages. The new summer schedule being implemented in the country from Sunday has had a direct impact on the air connectivity of Indore.

Actually, the schedule of all the flights operating in the country is released twice a year by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, DGCA. The summer schedule is in effect from late March to late October, while the winter schedule is in effect from late October to late March. Airlines companies take important decisions like closing their flights, starting new flights and changing the timings of existing flights during these schedule periods. This is a regular process, but this time in the summer schedule, IndiGo has suddenly stopped flights from Indore to four important cities, which has dashed the hopes of passengers and they will now have to find alternative or connecting flights, which will be costly in terms of both time and money.

Virtual inauguration of Terminal-1 today

On one hand, Indore’s air connectivity has weakened, while on the other hand, the old terminal of the airport has been renovated and made Terminal-1. In fact, today Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu will virtually inaugurate it. However, this is just a formal inauguration and it has not been decided yet when the flights will start operating from here. Actually, in the new summer schedule, Indore is getting a new airline in the form of Fly-91, which can provide some relief. This airline will operate flights from Indore to Jalgaon and Hyderabad.

Jalgaon will get direct connection

Actually, there are already flights from Indore to Hyderabad, so as a new city, Indore will get direct connection only to Jalgaon. The direct air connectivity to Jalgaon will be convenient for passengers traveling on this route, especially considering the trade and tourism links with this part of Maharashtra. However, it has not been decided yet when this flight will start, but it is expected that its operation will start from April 17. This is a positive step, but it provides little respite compared to the loss of connectivity with the four major cities.

Air connectivity with four cities lost

With the loss of air connectivity with four cities of the country, Madhya Pradesh’s only international flight, the regular service operated to Sharjah, will also reduce its frequency. Whereas Air India Express has decided to operate it only four days a week in the summer schedule. This flight has been closed since the start of the US-Iran war on February 28 and it has not been decided yet when it will resume. This lack of international connectivity is another concern for Indore, especially as it is the only such direct international service in the state. This will have a direct impact on people doing business and tourism abroad.