Beginning this weekend, tourists going to Sri Lanka need no longer go to Chennai or Hyderabad to catch flights to the island country.
Sri Lankan Airlines will operate direct flights from Vizag to Colombo, four days a week with effect from July 8.
Apart from Indian tourists going to Sri Lanka, the direct flight provides a convenient option to tourists from Sri Lanka visiting the tourist spots and Buddhist heritage sites in Visakhapatnam city and North Andhra districts. The flight is also a boon to Sri Lankan nationals working in Brandix Apparels at Atchutapuram.
Air passengers can directly fly to Maldives, Mauritius, Hong Kong, China and Japan directly from Vizag by taking direct boarding passes issued along with baggage check-in from Vizag itself with a brief stopover in Colombo, say Tours and Travels Association of Andhra (TTAA) chairman O. Naresh Kumar and its president K. Vijay Mohan.
The availability of a good number of flights from Vizag to Bengaluru has turned out to be a boon to those going on short trips from the Port City to the Silicon Valley of India.
“I had to take my nephew J. Abhishek to seek admission into an engineering college at Manipal last month. I booked our tickets a week in advance from Vizag to Bengaluru on Air Asia for ₹1,750 a ticket. Starting at 11.05 a.m., the flight reached at 12.30 p.m. We took another flight from Bengaluru to Manguluru the same evening. We got an additional discount of ₹ 300 on each ticket, as we booked through an online travel portal,” says B.S. Anand of Vizag.
“Those going on business trips or for admissions to colleges and the like can save on their hotel bills, provided they book their flight tickets early at discounted prices. They can get hefty discounts, if they can book their tickets about a month in advance,” he says.
“The 3rd AC fare on trains is no less and there is no accommodation on trains to Bengaluru, most of the time,” Mr. Anand adds.
(Reporting By B. Madhu Gopal)
