Ranchi is set to get a new flight connecting the State capital to Pune, a city which has a sizeable population of students and working professionals from Jharkhand, who had to either travel by train or take connecting flights to Pune and back so far, authorities from the Birsa Munda Airport said on Sunday.
“Two airline companies – Indigo and Spicejet – have offered to start direct flights between Ranchi to Pune by the end of August,” airport director Vinod Sharma said. “While the exact dates and schedule of the flights are yet not final, it is confirmed that Ranchi will get direct air connectivity with Pune this month itself,” he added.
Tickets may cost around Rs 5000 for direct flights to Pune from Ranchi, sources said, claiming that the first Indigo Airline’s flight from Ranchi to Pune was likely to take off on August 21.
The flight was likely to take off from Ranchi at around 2pm and land in Pune at around 4pm, sources said.
Several students and working professional, especially those working with IT firms and e-commerce start-ups, travel regularly from their hometowns in Jharkhand to Pune. Passengers travelling from Ranchi to Pune so far had to either rely on railways or take connecting flights either via Mumbai, Bangalore or New Delhi, airport officials said.
This month, Indigo Airline has already started direct flights to Lucknow, while Alliance Air has launched flight services connecting Kolkata, Ranchi and Bhubaneshwar. Earlier this year, Ranchi also got new flights to Ahmedabad and Chennai.
The Airport Advisory Committee (AAI) in Ranchi and the state’s largest trade body Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) have been pressing for new flights to tier two cities across India with the hope that it may grow business prospects. In a meeting of the transport department, it was decided that the government will focus on connecting Ranchi to Trivandrum, Patna, Guwahati, Chandigarh and other tier two cities.At present, at least 20 flights connect Ranchi to New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. The Birsa Munda Airport, which bagged the top position in Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) last year, at present has a 75-meter basic strip, which is the minimum length required for any airport.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) stated that the passenger traffic at the Ranchi airport had dropped down to 57,749 in the month of June last year, when travel restrictions were relaxed after strict lockdown since March.
The passenger traffic shot up to 1,41,268 in November when more flights were allowed to ply, the AAI stated, lauding the airport staff here for their dedication.
The State capital was likely to get more flights earlier this year, but the second wave of Covid-19 caused a delay in the process, officials said.