When the summer schedule started in March, there was a surprise – IndiGo had dropped Jabalpur! The airline had an impeccable record of not abandoning a station after it started. So much so that when it curtailed flights to Singapore from Delhi and Mumbai, it launched them from Chennai and kept Singapore active. This also seemed like a victory of sorts for Spicejet since there has rarely been a case where Spicejet has been able to hold its fort after IndiGo joined in.
After a brief lull, IndiGo is returning to Jabalpur. The airline had launched Jabalpur as its 66th destination in January 2019 with a single daily flight from Hyderabad, operated by ATR72-600. The airline later connected Jabalpur to Kolkata.
Back with a bang
Thanks to a twitter user who was keeping a close watch on Jabalpur operations and highlighted the return of IndiGo to Jabalpur.
The airline is doubling its efforts at Jabalpur with launch of A320 operations! The airline will connect Delhi and Mumbai by deploying the A320 aircraft while Hyderabad and Indore will see the ATR72-600 being deployed.
All flights are operational progressively in August and Jabalpur will be happy to see the A320 operations back at the airport!
Competition
Air India’s subsidiary – Alliance Air (Air India Regional) operates to Bilaspur and Delhi from Jabalpur. The real competition is from Spicejet which operates to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Surat. The flights to Pune and Surat were launched recently.
It needs to be seen if Spicejet will up the game with additional capacity, like it did for Leh and Rajkot when IndiGo entered or fight with the existing armour and focus on larger connectivity ploy.
Spicejet currently operates 2x daily to Jabalpur from Delhi and a daily flight each from Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru. Operations to Surat are thrice a week. All the flights are operated by DHC Q400 aircraft.
Spicejet launched Jabalpur in 2012 with flights from Mumbai, operated by the Q400. The airline later added flights to Hyderabad. Air India has operated the CRJ700 between Delhi and Jabalpur in the past.
Jabalpur!
The city is located in eastern part of Madhya Pradesh and a gateway to famous tiger reserve of Bandhavgarh – which attracts considerable foreign tourists. The city has its own attractions like Bhedaghat – which are white rock formations in Narmada river. The city also has business, cultural and defence importance.
The airport is undergoing expansion and will see a new apron and terminal building soon.
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