After Air India has introduced Imphal-Delhi direct flight service from January 2 early this year considering the public demand, Jet Airways also started to operate Imphal-Delhi direct flight from Sunday, according to official reports available in Imphal on Monday.
“As per summer flight schedule effective from March 25, it will operate direct flight between Delhi and Imphal on four days a week, on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday,” said Airport Director S K Panigrahi in a press release issued on Monday in Imphal.
“These direct flights will depart from Delhi at 11:05 Indian Standard Time (IST) and will arrive at Imphal at 14:05 IST and direct from to Delhi will depart from Imphal at 15.05 IST.
“As per the scheduled, the Jet Airways also operate one daily flight between Imphal and Guwahati, the release added.
Air India had already started its Imphal-Delhi non-stop flight operations on two days a week, on Sunday and Tuesday, since January 2 this year considering the public demand.
The Air India flight from New Delhi takes off at around 9:30 am and arrives at Imphal International airport at around 12:15 pm in the afternoon.
Similarly it takes off from Imphal airport at around 3:35 pm and reaches Delhi at around 6 pm in the evening.
The non-stop flights also save at least one hour time, according to sources in Imphal.
Earlier people used to stop for an hour at Guwahati airport en route to New Delhi from Imphal or from Imphal to New Delhi.
Earlier, Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh had informed about having better connectivity for the development of the State.
He had even said that he had talked with the top officials of Air Asia and Airports Authority of India to facilitate launching of daily Imphal-Delhi direct flights and expressed confidence that Air Asia might introduce daily flights between Imphal and the national capital from the first week of April this year.
Interestingly Imphal which once had a single flight to New Delhi on a weekly basis is now having at least eight to 10 flights in a single day.