Air India Express launches night flights to Dubai

The Hindu Staff Correspondent
Number of flights to Dubai rises to 10 a week
Additional flight to Kuwait planned from January 20
Reduction in fares proposed for high-end flight services
MANGALORE: Air India Express launched daily night-flight services between Dubai and Mangalore from Monday. With this, the number of its flights to Dubai has gone up from seven to 10 a week.
The flight to Dubai from Mangalore airport took off at 9.30 p.m. with 186 passengers on board. “The flight was full,” Station Manager of Air India, Mangalore, Chellam Prasad told The Hindu.
She said that the airline had reduced the daily day-flight services between the two cities to three days a week. Now the day flights would operate on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
“Daily night-flight services have been introduced for the convenience of passengers as per their demand,” she said.
Ms. Prasad said that the daily night flight (flight number IX-811) would depart from here at 9.30 p.m. and reach Dubai at 23.40 hrs (Dubai local time). On its return journey, flight number IX-812 would depart from Dubai at 01.35 hrs (Dubai local time) and arrive here at 6.30 a.m.
The day flight (number IX-383) would originate at Kozhikode at 7.15 a.m. and arrive in Mangalore at 8 a.m. It would leave Mangalore at 9 a.m. and reach Dubai at 11.10 hrs (Dubai local time). The flight (IX-384) would depart from Dubai at 12.10 hrs (local time) and arrive here at 5.05 p.m. It would take off from Mangalore at 5.50 p.m. and reach Kozhikode at 6.35 p.m., she said.
Additional flight
Ms. Prasad said that that the airline would be introducing a flight to Kuwait from here on Tuesdays from January 20, in addition to the existing two flights to that place, which operate on Sundays and Thursdays.
This flight (IX-389) would originate at Kozhikode at 7.20 p.m. and arrive here at 8 p.m. and depart to Kuwait at 8.45 p.m. to reach there at 23.15 hrs (Kuwait local time). The return flight (IX-390) would depart Kuwait at 00.30 hrs (Kuwait local time) and arrive in Mangalore at 7.25 a.m. It would depart from here at 8.10 a.m. and reach Kozhikode at 8.50 a.m.
She said that the airline had suspended its operation to Sharjah early in December last owing to “operational problems”. Earlier, the flight from here to Kuwait was via Sharjah. Henceforth, it would be flying directly between Mangalore and Kuwait, she said.Change in schedules
Ms. Prasad said that Air India Express would change the schedules of flights from here to Bahrain and Doha from January 13.
The flights to these two cities would be rescheduled to Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, instead of the present Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Reduction in fare
To a question, she said that the airline proposed to reduce air fare by this month-end. The fares to some sectors were likely to come down by Rs. 2,000. However, the minimum fares would not be reduced. The reduction in fares would be limited to high-end flights, she said.