Aviation safety regulator DGCA has granted permission to no-frills airline IndiGo to operate its flight services to Nairobi in Kenya, a DGCA official said on June 13. This would be the Gurugram-based airline’s first foray into the vast African region.
IndiGo had in February this year announced its plans to launch air services to Nairobi, Jakarta and some Central Asian Countries as part of its international expansion plans amid increasing competition due to a rejuvenated Air India under Tata Group.
“Indigo operations to Nairobi with effect from July 24 has been approved today (June 13),” the official said.
Early this month, the airline said it will connect Nairobi in Kenya and Jakarta in Indonesia, with direct flights from Mumbai in late July or early August.
“Delhi will get connected in August to Tbilisi, Georgia and Baku, Azerbaijan and in September to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Almaty, Kazakhstan,” it said on June 2.
It has also said at that time that once these routes are operational, the airline will be connecting a total of 32 international destinations compared to 26 currently.
Sanjay Kumar, director, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Kanpur Airport said that the incoming passengers will also be dropped at the new terminal only. “The IndiGo Airline has made arrangements in the new terminal building of Kanpur Airport starting from June 7. Today, the technical personnel of the airline tested the setup,” he informed.
In another development, Air carrier IndiGo has commenced its operations at the new integrated terminal building inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Chennai Airport here. In April, phase I of the building set up at an outlay of INR 1,260 crore to boost passenger handling capacity, was inaugurated.IndiGo has begun its international operations from the New Integrated Terminal Building T2 with effect from June 13.
In a social media post, the Chennai Airport announced that the airliner would be operating all its international flights to various destinations from the new terminal building from June 13.
According to industry experts, with the commencement of operations by IndiGo at the international terminal, other airlines are also expected to follow suit.
The NITB is uniquely designed to showcase the rich culture and heritage of the state.
“The addition of this new integrated terminal building will increase the passenger serving capacity of the airport from 23 million passengers per annum to 30 MPPA, according to the government.
The new terminal is a striking reflection of the local Tamil culture, incorporating traditional features such as the Kolam, temples and other elements that highlight the natural surroundings, it added.
