Flight connectivity between Mangaluru and Mumbai received a boost with the Air India introducing its second daily flight between the two coastal cities from June 10.
This comes close on the heels of IndiGo adding a third daily flight on Mumbai-Mangaluru sector on May 22. With this, the two airlines now operate five daily flights on this much travelled sector. In 2022, Mumbai-Mangaluru emerged as the busiest route, with 4.9 lakh passengers flying to and from.
Inaugural flight
The Air India flight 1679 departs Mumbai at 12.40 pm to reach Mangaluru at 2.10 pm. On the return leg, the AI 1680 leaves Mangaluru at 2.50 pm to reach Mumbai at 4.35 pm. The inaugural leg of this flight saw 182 passengers arrive on AI 1679 and 167 passengers leave for Mumbai on AI 1680. The other Air India flight AI 679 leaves Mumbai at 5.45 am to reach Mangaluru at 7.20 am. Flight AI 680 leaves Mangaluru at 7.55 am and arrives in Mumbai at 9.35 am.
According to sources in Mangaluru International Airport, IndiGo has hinted that it will operate its third daily flight to Mumbai till the end of the current summer airline schedule that ends on October 28. The low-cost carrier which had initially planned this third daily flight up to June 15 has since extended it till July 31 for ticket booking. With this, daily air traffic movements (ATM) at Mangaluru International Airport are 38 and passenger count — domestic and international — hovers around the 5000 mark.
