GoAir to connect 10 Indian cities to Phuket by 2019-end; airline aims to replicate domestic success story

Mumbai: Budget carrier GoAir, which started its international operations this month, will connect Phuket in Thailand with eight more Indian cities by the end of next year, a top company executive said on Monday. Soon, the airline would also be flying to Bangkok. Currently, the Wadia group-promoted carrier flies to Phuket and Male in the Maldives from Mumbai and New Delhi. It commenced international operations on October 11. “We announce that Phuket is our first international route… we are making Phuket our Thailand hub. We already have routes from Mumbai and Delhi to Phuket, and by the end of next year, we will increase this to 10 cities flying direct to Phuket,” GoAir Managing Director Jeh Wadia said. [caption id=“attachment_3093042” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] With the introduction of these flights, GoAir aims to amplify and replicate its domestic success story, he was quoted as saying in a release issued by Royal Phuket Marina. According to Wadia, the airline would soon be flying into Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. Royal Phuket Marina is a luxury marina and Wadia addressed a press meet there on Monday. “Thailand is a big part of our international expansion, it is a destination popular with Indian travellers and Phuket is at the heart of that,” Wadia said. He said that 90 per cent of the airline’s fleet is new and within six months, it would be 100 percent. “We placed an order for 164 planes and have taken delivery so far of 41. Our plans for Phuket and the region are big,” he added. GoAir launched its domestic operations in November 2005 and was granted rights in August 2016 to operate to nine countries. These include China, Vietnam, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The city-based carried had qualified for overseas flights two years ago when it took delivery of its 20th aircraft, which was also its first Airbus A320 neo. At present, the no-frills carrier operates over 1,550 weekly flights to 23 domestic and two international destinations. It has a fleet of 41 Airbus A320 planes, including 22 A320 neos.