Singapore Airlines will operate flights to 11cities in India and aims to become the largest international airline operating flights to India, in terms of the number of cities connected. The company will commence services to Coimbatore from October 28.
Bharath Mahadevan, manager, southern India, told FE that the country?s southern region was the main focus area for the airline and 35 out of its 52 flights a week to India were operated out of south Indian cities The company operates flights to eight cities at present, including the four metros and Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Amritsar. Singapore Airlines? regional subsidiary SilkAir operates flights to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram and is actively looking at Tier II cities including Kozhikode, Thiruchirapalli and Visakhapatnam, Bharath said.
Coimbatore will have services thrice a week and ultimately the company may operate daily flights, depending on the traffic, Bharath said.
The airlines also announced the launch of two additional flights to Chennai, taking the total number to ten a week. By next April, the airline will operate daily double flights to the city. The company is constantly looking at opportunities to increase its frequency to other cities subject to approvals from both the Indian and Singapore governments, Bharath said.
As part of the launch, the company has announced special fares to select destinations. The discounts range from 21% to 67% on current economy fares, excluding taxes and surcharges, to key locales in Malaysia, Korea, China, Japan and Australia, besides Singapore and Hong Kong. Bookings are open till October 15, Bharath said.
Singapore Airlines has also completely revamped its in-flight menu to ?popular local choice? with South-Indian delicacies, which includes a regional starter, a rice-based main course and a signature dessert.