Abu Dhabi: Jet Airways’ daily flights connecting Abu Dhabi to the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad are a dream come true for South Indian expats, families and market sources said.
“The whole South Indian community was waiting for this,” said Abdul Karim, director of sales at Omeir Travel Agency. “There were many families who were flying to Bengaluru from Dubai due to a shortage of seats. And Bengaluru is a city that receives interest from the local population and business travellers,” he said.
The daily Abu Dhabi-Bengaluru flight 9W504 from March 1 is Jet’s maiden international flight connecting the UAE capital to India’s IT hub. “This is a dream come true for us. I used to fly from Dubai when tickets were not available on the only Etihad flight to Bengaluru. But not anymore,” said Harshavardhan, a civil engineer from Bengaluru, who has lived in Abu Dhabi for seven years.
The flight departs Abu Dhabi at 10.30am and arrives at Bengaluru at 4.20pm (local time). The return flight leaves Bengaluru at 8.30pm and arrives at Abu Dhabi at 11.30pm.
Nimmy Chand, an Indian housewife, said she is happy with the morning flight to her native city. “It is very convenient because it reaches Bengaluru in the evening. I hate it when I land in the wee hours of the morning and have to wait till dawn to take a cab home. Jet’s Hyderabad flight 9W 549 will depart Abu Dhabi at 10.45am (local time) and arrive at Hyderabad at 4.10pm (local time). The return leg flight 9W 550 departs Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 8.25pm and arrives at Abu Dhabi International Airport at 11.10pm. Market sources and travel agents said the new service will benefit business travellers. “We are confident our airline will become an automatic first choice on this popular route, given our domestic network and an ever-expanding international footprint,” Gaurang Shetty, senior vice president – commercial, Jet Airways told XPRESS.
