International travel may be on a slow curve right now, but domestic travel seems to be taking off in a big way - if the number of new airline routes are anything to go by.
Low-cost airline SpiceJet just announed 66 new flights (including additional services on certain routes) on their domestic network which will be launched from March 28.
The new flights are part of SpiceJet's strategy for an enhanced network to improve connectivity between metro and non-metro cities as there has been a rise in demand for flights in smaller cities.
The new flights will be operated with Boeing 737s and regional jet Bombardier Q400s.
These are the new routes and new services on existing routes
New flights between Routes Kolkata&ndashDarbhanga, Chennai&ndashJharsuguda, and Nashik-Kolkata will be launched.
New non-stop daily flights on Mumbai-Leh, Leh-Srinagar, Srinagar-Mumbai, Hyderabad-Mumbai, Mumbai-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Surat, Surat-Mumbai, Kochi-Pune, and Pune-Kochi routes.
Five additional non-stop flights will be launched from Pune to Darbhanga, Durgapur, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Varanasi to meet the increasing demand for air travel from smaller cities.
&ldquoWe are delighted to further expand our domestic operations and add 66 new flights to our network for the start of this summer schedule. As the country&rsquos largest regional operator, the new flights further reiterate our commitment towards enhancing regional connectivity, besides offering unique connections to many leisure destinations,&rdquo said a spokesperson from the airline.
"The airline will launch new flights connecting Srinagar, one of the most popular tourist destinations, with key cities with flights on Ahmedabad-Srinagar-Ahmedabad, Bengaluru-Srinagar-Bengaluru, and Kolkata-Srinagar-Kolkata sectors," the spokesperson added.
This is being done "in a bid to support the increasing travel demand from smaller cities which were initially connected by SpiceJet under UDAN scheme, the airline has introduced new flights connecting Darbhanga, Durgapur, Jharsuguda, Gwalior and Nashik with some key metro cities. The airline will launch new flights on the sectors of Ahmedabad-Darbhanga-Ahmedabad, Hyderabad-Darbhanga-Hyderabad, Pune-Darbhanga-Pune, and Kolkata-Darbhanga-Kolkata after connecting Darbhanga with Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru earlier", said a release from the airline.