Air India Express kicked off its direct service connecting Goa and Dubai. The service will operate four times a week on Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the return flight will operate on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This flight is a part of AI Express recent rejig of Dubai network in which the airline has removed Mumbai and Delhi from its schedule.
The airline will commence its Indore-Dubai route from March 30, 2023 with one weekly flight within days of Air India ending its service.
Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express and AirAsia India, said: “We are thrilled to start our maiden international services from Goa under the Air India Express banner, which is amongst India's most popular tourist destinations. We take pride in being the only airline that offers direct connectivity to Dubai from Goa. AirAsia India, which is set to merge with Air India Express, already operates 13 daily direct flights to/from Goa, connecting five domestic cities. We hope to be a part of the tourism success story of the state and remain committed to offering the best of services to our customers.”
With Goa and Indore, Air India Express will now connect 11 Indian destinations directly with Dubai. May onwards the airline will increase frequencies to DXB from some cities, including Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Kannur, Jaipur, and Trivandrum.
The recent tweaks in Air India Express network comes in the wake of its proposed merger with AirAsia India. At a recent media event, Aloke Singh recently said that the merged entity will have enormous growth opportunities as the businesses of both airlines complement each other. "Both the airlines could formally merge by the end of this year if everything goes as per schedule," he added.