Air-India (AI) will operate a direct flight from Hyderabad to Singapore twice a week, beginning March 29, Air-India managing director Mascarenhas announced here.
Mascarenhas announced the decision after a meeting with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and chief secretarys Madhav Rao at Naidus residence yesterday. Naidu and Rao were also present at the news conference.
Mascarenhas said Air India would offer a specially structured fare of Rs 13,000 for the Hyderabad-Singapore-Hyderabad round trip in the economy class. The fare will be lower than what Air India is charging from Madras to Singapore, though the Hyderabad-Singapore distance was more.
The AI chief admitted that initially the traffic may not be very satisfactory, but was confident of its success, considering that the Andhra Pradesh government has agreed to extend all assistance for promotional purposes.
The Hyderabad-Singapore flight will be convenient for those landing on the west coast and were bound for Singapore.
He expected traffic from Andhra Pradesh itself, especially from towns like Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Vijayawada since these places were well connected with Hyderabad by the railways.
For the months of April, May and June, he said, a special incentive would be offered to J (executive) class passengers by way of a free ticket for one companion. A J-class ticket will cost around Rs 31,000, he said.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed happiness at the new service and said the proposal was mooted by him almost a year back, after his visit to Singapore.
Several prospective investors in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur had complained to him about the absence of direct air service to Hyderabad. They had to stop for a day at Chennai, before coming to Hyderabad earlier.
Naidu said he had to take up this matter with the Prime Minister, the cabinet secretary and other officials in Delhi. It has taken me almost a year to get the thing done. I had to even quarrel with the Prime Minister, he said.
The Chief Minister was confident the direct flight would be popular, specially because of the special fare structure. It is cheaper to fly to Singapore from here than to Delhi or Calcutta, he observed. (Indian Airlines charges Rs 16,262 for a return ticket to Delhi from Hyderabad in J class and Rs 10,940 in economy class).
Naidu said with Hyderabad emerging as a major IT centre in this part of the world, the direct flight will facilitate faster interaction between Indian professionals and those in Singapore or Malaysia.
The state government plans to promote leisure tourism and the direct flight will be a plus point in this endeavour.
