Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has announced its latest destination. From next month, the airline will fly to the hilly town of Dharamshala, which serves as the winter capital of the state of Himachal Pradesh. A popular tourist destination, Dharamshala can only be served by smaller turboprops, and IndiGo will deploy its ATR aircraft to this airport.
Dharamshala on IndiGo’s map
IndiGo has announced its 78th domestic and 104th overall destination in the 6E network – Dharamshala. Located in the north Indian hilly state of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala attracts plenty of tourists every year.
The carrier will start the Delhi-Dharamshala flight on March 26th as part of the summer schedule to enhance regional connectivity. Vinay Malhotra, Head of Global Sales, IndiGo, commented,
“We are pleased to announce Dharamshala, as the 78th domestic destination in the 6E network. This will be IndiGo’s maiden destination in Himachal Pradesh. We have witnessed strong demand for connectivity to Himachal Pradesh since the offset of Covid-19 as more and more people are travelling to hills during summer months and for workations. The direct flights between Delhi-Dharamshala, will connect Himachal Pradesh to the rest of the country and international destinations in Asia, Middle East, and Europe.”
Dharamshala is home to the spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and as such, holds significance as a Buddhist center. Along with various monasteries, Dharamshala also has the highest international cricket ground in the world.
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Schedule
IndiGo’s Delhi-Dharamshala flights will operate as per the following schedule:
Flight No. | Origin | Destination | Frequency | Effective | Departure | Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6E 7483 | Delhi | Dharamshala | Daily | March 26th | 06:40 | 08:25 |
6E 7484 | Dharamshala | Delhi | Daily | March 26th | 08:45 | 10:25 |
6E 7485 | Delhi | Dharamshala | Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri | March 27th | 11:10 | 12:55 |
6E 7486 | Dharamshala | Delhi | Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri | March 27th | 13:15 | 14:55 |
Currently, the only airlines operating out of Dharamshala are SpiceJet and Alliance Air. SpiceJet connects Dharamshala with Delhi, while Alliance Air flies between Dharamshala and Delhi, Chandigarh, and Shimla.
Officially known as Kangra Airport, it has a runway length of around 4,500 feet; as such, it can only host smaller turboprop aircraft. IndiGo will deploy its ATR 72-600 planes to Dharamshala; it has 39 of the type in its fleet.
New flights
Since the start of this year, IndiGo has announced or started several new flights. On January 1st, it started connecting Dehradun with Pune in the western state of Maharashtra. Almost two weeks later, it commenced the first-ever direct flight service between Kolhapur and Bengaluru.
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On February 2nd, IndiGo also started flying between Jaipur and Jodhpur, two popular tourist destinations in the state of Rajasthan. In January, the carrier also started connecting Thiruvananthapuram in the South Indian state of Kerala with Kolkata via Chennai.
Earlier this month, IndiGo also announced Nasik as its 77th domestic destination, with flights starting from March 15th. And finally, the carrier announced daily new flights on the Abu Dhabi-Hyderabad, Chennai-Muscat, and Abu Dhabi-Chennai routes, beginning March 26th.
What do you think about IndiGo’s network expansion strategy? Please leave a comment below.