Zoom Air (India) (ZOM, Delhi International) has outlined its plans to connect Pune airport, in India's central west, with Tier II and III cities such as Jabalpur, Ranchi and Surat. Zoom's CEO Kaustav Dhar told The Times of India that the services will commence on July 15.
Other airlines to launch new Pune services recently include IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) with flights to Agartala, Srinagar (via Delhi), and Kolkata, and GoAir (Mumbai International) which is also connecting the city to Kolkata. In October, Vistara (UK, Delhi International) will link Pune to Lucknow (via Delhi International), while Air India Express (IX, Delhi International) will fly to Delhi and Sharjah.
"Though Pune airport is connected to many cities in the east, there are hardly any direct flights. It seems now that airlines, both big and small, are set to address the issue. Direct flights to Kolkata from Pune was important as there are many business fliers," Somesh Ghosh, a local businessman, told The Times of India.
According to ch-aviation capacity data, Pune currently is served by almost 90,000 seats a week with direct flights to Delhi International, Bengaluru International, Chennai, Hyderabad International, Ahmedabad and Kolkata making up the bulk of its capacity.
Zoom Air is a new start-up carrier, which commenced operations on February 12. Its fleet comprises two CRJ200s which it currently deploys on flights between Delhi, Kolkata and Durgapur.
