Puducherry will return to the aviation map of the country with Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India all set to operate flights from Bengaluru to Puducherry from April 14. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy made the announcement after a discussion with officials of the carrier on Tuesday.
Alliance Air had agreed to operate an ATR type aircraft on the Bengaluru-Puducherry sector on all days except Wednesday. The plane which could carry 48 passengers would leave Bengaluru at 3.45 p.m. and arrive in Puducherry at 4.45 p.m.
The flight will leave Puducherry Airport at 5.05 p.m. and arrive in Bengaluru at 6.05 p.m. The commencement of flight services from Puducherry would be a big boost to tourism sector, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy told reporters.
A senior official of Alliance Air told The Hindu the carrier will operate flights on the Bengaluru-Puducherry sector on a No profit No loss basis. Alliance Air has already been operating similar ATR type aircrafts to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, North East and Lakshadweep Islands. The flight to Bengaluru will also provide connections to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Cochin and Chennai.
Without going into the specifics, an official indicated that the carrier would be offering fares in three slabs and stated that "we are keen to make it attractive". A technical team will be inspecting the Puducherry Airport on Monday, the official said.
R. Mihir Vardhan, Secretary to Tourism said the Puducherry government will be holding talks with the officials of Alliance Air to work out the tariff structuring. The idea is that the flight service should sustain in the long run and the government is ready to extend all assistance to the operator.