AirAsia India to fly to Srinagar, Darjeeling soon

Bengaluru, Jan 18 (IANS) Low-cost carrier AirAsia India on Wednesday announced that it would operate a daily service from New Delhi to Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir and Bagdogra in Darjeeling Hills with effect from February 19.

"Booking for the two destinations has opened on Wednesday, with fare to Srinagar at Rs 1,999 and to Bagdogra at Rs 2,499," said the airline in a statement here.

The budget carrier will also operate a daily service to Pune from New Delhi, as a connecting flight to passengers from Srinagar and Bagdogra, at Rs 2,999 fare.

With the addition of two cities, the airline will fly to 13 destinations, including Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Kochi and Vizag, with Bengaluru and New Delhi as its northern and southern hubs.

"We are consistently growing and are on an expansion mode after ending 2016 on a positive note. Srinagar and Bagdogra are key sectors for us," said AirAsia India Chief Executive Amar Abrol in the statement.

According to the data aviation regulator DGCA released on Tuesday, AirAsia India had 2.8 per cent market share among the budget carriers in December.

The airline also had the lowest number of cancellations -- 0.11 per cent.

The three-year-old low-cost airline is a joint venture between Tata Sons Ltd and AirAsia Berhad in Malaysia, with each holding 49 per cent equity stake, while its Chairman S. Ramadorai and Director R. Venkataraman hold 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent shareholding respectively.