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Low-Cost Carrier GoAir To Launch International Operations In October

GoAir’s first international flight will be between Mumbai and Phuket.



A Go Airlines (India) Ltd. aircraft prepares to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
A Go Airlines (India) Ltd. aircraft prepares to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Wadia group-owned budget carrier GoAir Ltd. is all set to fly international from October, with the first flight to operate on the Mumbai-Phuket route, a source privy to development said.

The Mumbai-based airline, which became eligible to fly overseas more than two years ago when it took delivery of its twentieth aircraft, will be the fifth domestic carrier to have international operations. The bookings for the maiden international flight will commence soon and an announcement to this effect is expected to be made by Thursday, the source said.

GoAir will be launching international operations with a flight to Phuket (Thailand) from Mumbai in October, the source told PTI. The airline has all regulatory approvals in place and the flight is expected to go into the system (bookings) in a week’s time, according to the source.

The airline is looking to start flights to three to four international destinations by March next year. The proposed Mumbai-Phuket service will be a daily flight.

GoAir spokesperson was not available for comments.

Thailand ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi had last week tweeted that, “Go Airlines (India) or GoAir has been approved as designate airline to fly to Thailand since August 10”.

The airline, which launched its domestic operations in November 2005, was in August 2016 granted rights to operate to nine countries, including China, Vietnam, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, among others. GoAir had planned to launch services on the international routes in October last year but had to defer due to the grounding of some of the Pratt & Whitney engine-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes owing to engine glitches.