File picture of an IndiGo Airlines flight at Bengaluru. Reuters
Doha: India's largest no-frill airlines Indigo plans to launch flights from Doha to India, adding Qatar as the seventh international destination covered by the airlines. This is part of its move to strengthen its footprint in the gulf region.
According to sources, the airlines plans to launch flights from Bombay, Delhi, Calicut, Cochin, Trivandrum, Chennai to Doha. Though not confirmed, the service is expected to start in second week of April.
When The Peninsula contacted IndiGo airlines, they said, "We haven’t yet confirmed the date."
Indigo launched its flight to Sharjah from Calicut on March 20 and was given a water cannon salute welcome. The Airlines also plans to launch another flight from Trivandrum to Sharjah on April 8.
IndiGo had announced its plans to launch Delhi-Doha flight in 2016 but the service was never officially launched as the company was then concentrating on the domestic sector which was expanding rapidly.
Air India Express and Jet Airways are the only two Indian carriers currently operating flights from Doha. Gulf region is a lucrative market for Indian airlines as it is one of the largest employers of Indian expats. Apart from this, there is an increasing number of business and tourist travellers in this sector.
From Kochi airport alone there are over 3.2 million passengers traffic flow (2016 data) which is largest passenger traffic flow between India and Gulf region.
