Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is going to be the latest international destination to be added to Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international (SVPI) airport.
A direct flight to the Malaysian capital is in the offing from December 1 from the city airport as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced the winter schedule for 2023-2024 effective from October 28.
Some 40 new outbound flights will be added from SVPI airport, including both weekly domestic and international departures.
This will bring the weekly departures from SVPI airport to 910 compared to 870 in the winter schedule of 2022-2023. Interestingly, the flights have increased this year compared to previous years, despite GoAir flight operations being indefinitely suspended.
“Malaysian Airlines have asked for slots for operating a direct flight from Ahmedabad to Kuala Lumpur for four days a week. This will help enhance connectivity to the South Asian country ahead of the Christmas-New Year holidays and the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit,” a source said.
The SVPI airport recently added a daily direct flight to Bangkok, Thailand. With this, the city airport will operate some 15 international flights to various destinations with 18 airlines.
“A direct flight to Malaysia is a welcome move. Direct air connectivity to international destinations is the need of the hour, given the number of business and leisure travellers.
Moreover, it will be beneficial as several delegates from the country will arrive for the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2024. Direct connectivity will also encourage tourists to plan international holidays even over a limited number of days or long weekends,” said Virendra Shah, chairman, Travel Agents’ Association of India (TAAI) – Gujarat.
Currently, the city airport has direct flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Bangkok (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi (Vietnam), Muscat (Oman), Kuwait, London (UK), Doha (Qatar) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), among others.
New direct flights from the city to domestic destinations including Diu, Jaisalmer, Agra, Darbhanga and Gorakhpur are also in the offing. This will take the direct domestic flights to 40, operated by seven airlines. Besides the new destination, the weekly frequency of flights to existing destinations has also gone up.
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