Alliance Air to start daily Mumbai-Sindhudurg flight from October 9

Disinvestment-bound Air India's regional arm Alliance Air on Wednesday said it will operate daily direct air services to the newly-constructed Sindhudurg Airport from Mumbai, starting October 9. The move will make Alliance the first domestic carrier to launch operations to the greenfield airport in the Konkan region, which received the aerodrome licence for commencing commercial operations from aviation safety regulator DGCA last week.

"Alliance Air will commence daily direct flight operations from Mumbai to Sindhudurg and back effective October 9. These services will operate under the regional connectivity scheme of the Central Government," the airline said in a statement.

Alliance Air will deploy its 70-seater ATR 72-600 aircraft to connect these cities, it stated.

On September 7, Union minister Narayan Rane had said Chipi airport in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra would be inaugurated by Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on October 9.

Giving details of the services to Sindhudurg, the alliance said Flight 9I 661 will depart from Mumbai at 11.35 am and arrive at Sindhudurg at 1 pm. Similarly, the return flight 9I 662 will depart from Sindhudurg at 1.25 pm and arrive in Mumbai at 2.50 pm, it said.

The airline also announced an all-inclusive inaugural fare of Rs 2,520 for the Mumbai-Sindhudurg flight and Rs 2,621 for Sindhudurg-Mumbai services.

At an investment of Rs 800 crore, the first green airport at Chipi in Sindhudurg district, the state is expected to bring economic boom for the region with lots of employment and self-entrepreneurship opportunities for local people, IRB Sindhudurg Airport Pvt Ltd said in a release.

IRB Sindhudurg Airport Pvt Ltd is a special purpose vehicle of IRB Infrastructure Developer that was formed and mandated with the task of project development and operations.