Amritsar: As the winter season approaches, a new era of convenient seamless travel is set to begin in the upcoming winter season for travellers between Punjab, Australia, New Zealand and other Southeast Asian countries.
Punjabi community residing in these countries will now have the privilege of multiple flight options than ever before for flying directly to Punjab’s biggest and busiest Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International (SGRDJI) Airport in Amritsar without the need to fly from Delhi Airport, disclosed Sameep Singh Gumtala, global convener of FlyAmritsar Initiative (FAI), a civil society advocacy for development and direct flights from SGRDJI, Amritsar.
This remarkable opportunity for direct flights to Amritsar has been made possible through the operations of four prominent airlines from Malaysia (Batik Air, Air Asia X & Malaysia Airlines) and Singapore (Scoot), all of which will operate flights to Amritsar via their respective hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. All these airlines are now competing and eyeing the Punjabi diaspora to facilitate easier travel for them.
In a detailed report, Gumtala shared that starting November 8, 2023 Malaysia’s leading airline Malaysia Airlines, will commence 2-weekly direct flights from its hub in Kuala Lumpur to the sacred city of Amritsar, providing very convenient direct connections from Punjab to multiple cities across Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Vietnam and more. These cities include Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Auckland, Bangkok, Phuket, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, etc.
This will be the third airline from Malaysia starting its operations to Amritsar providing a total of 700 seats a week. The airline is also part of the One World Alliance that codeshares with airline carriers of many countries including Qantas in Australia providing onward connections to many other cities. The journey to cities in Australia and New Zealand can be completed in just 15-17 hours.
Scoot is changing its time schedule during the winter season from November to March end. The flight will now arrive at Amritsar in the morning at 9:05am and depart for Singapore at 10:30am. The airline operates its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft with either 335 or 375 seats on this route providing a total of about 3430 seats a week.
The new flight timings will now offer seamless connectivity for both inbound and outbound travellers to a wide network of its destinations beyond Singapore, both through Scoot and Singapore Airlines, added Gumtala.
AirAsia X and Batik Air, two other prominent Malaysian airlines, will continue their four weekly non-stop services to Amritsar from Kuala Lumpur connecting Amritsar to a significant number of destinations across Southeast Asia and Australia. Air Asia X operates its Airbus A330 aircraft with 376 seats.
The airport is poised to host an astounding 30 flights per week from these 4 airlines, facilitating travel for over 34,000 passengers in a month. This development undoubtedly signifies a significant advancement in air connectivity, opening doors to increase travel opportunities especially for the diaspora.
In addition, the passengers may be able to pay less due to the competition among different airlines.
After Delhi, SGRDJI Airport Amritsar has emerged as a top priority for airlines from Malaysia and Singapore expanding their operations in Northern India. This will also benefit flyers from other neighbouring States including Jammu, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
