AMRITSAR: As the winter season approaches, a new era of convenient seamless travel is set to begin in the upcoming winter season for travellers between Punjab and Australia, New Zealand and other Southeast Asian countries. In a detailed report, the Global Convener of FlyAmritsar Initiative Sameep Singh Gumtala stated that the Punjabi community residing in these countries will now have the privilege of multiple flight options than ever before for flying directly to Punjab’s biggest and busiest Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International (SGRDJI) Airport in Amritsar without the need to fly from Delhi Airport.
This remarkable opportunity for direct flights to Amritsar has been made possible through the operations of four prominent airlines from Malaysia (Batik Air, Air Asia X & Malaysia Airlines) and Singapore (Scoot), all of which will operate flights to Amritsar via their respective hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. All these airlines are now competing and eyeing the Punjabi diaspora to facilitate easier travel for them.
Gumtala shared that starting from November 8, 2023 Malaysia’s leading airline Malaysia Airlines, will commence 2-weekly direct flights from its hub in Kuala Lumpur to the sacred city of Amritsar, providing very convenient direct connections from Punjab to multiple cities across Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Vietnam and more. These cities include Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Auckland, Bangkok, Phuket, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, etc.
This will be the third airline from Malaysia starting its operations to Amritsar providing a total of 700 seats a week. The airline is also part of the One World Alliance that codeshares with airline carriers of many countries including Qantas in Australia providing onward connections to many other cities. The journey to cities in Australia and New Zealand can be completed in just 15-17 hours.
To further enhance and improve convenient connectivity both ways the subsidiary of Singapore airlines Scoot is changing its time schedule during the winter season from November to March end. The flight will now arrive at Amritsar in the morning at 9:05am and depart for Singapore at 10:30am. The airline operates its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft with either 335 or 375 seats on this route providing a total of about 3430 seats a week. The new flight timings will now offer seamless connectivity for both inbound and outbound travellers to a wide network of its destinations beyond Singapore, both through Scoot and Singapore Airlines, added Gumtala.
AirAsia X and Batik Air, two other prominent Malaysian airlines, will continue their four weekly non-stop services to Amritsar from Kuala Lumpur connecting Amritsar to a significant number of destinations across Southeast Asia and Australia. Air Asia X operates its Airbus A330 aircraft with 376 seats.
The airport is poised to host an astounding 30 flights per week from these 4 airlines, facilitating travel for over 34, 000 passengers in a month. This development undoubtedly signifies a significant advancement in air connectivity, opening doors to increase travel opportunities especially for the diaspora. Gumtala urged the Punjabis and its diaspora to prefer flying in directly to Amritsar instead of Delhi to support all these flights and make them successful. In addition, the passengers may be able to pay less due to the competition among different airlines.
Gumtala further emphasized that after Delhi, SGRDJI Airport Amritsar has emerged as a top priority for airlines from Malaysia and Singapore expanding their operations in Northern India. This will also benefit flyers from other neighbouring States including Jammu, Himachal Pradesh & Haryana. He appealed to the Punjab Government to focus on promotion of connectivity from the airport, connect airport with bus service to other cities of Punjab and development of other facilities for the convenience of residents across Punjab and the Punjabi diaspora.