IndiGo to start new flights to Shirdi, tickets from ₹2,112

Budget carrier IndiGo will start daily non-stop flights for Shirdi from Delhi and Chennai. The flight from Delhi to Shirdi will start from 5th February 2020 and with effect from 20th February, Indigo will start daily flights from Chennai to Shirdi. The airline is offering flight tickets starting ₹2,112 on these routes. With a focus on expanding its network, the low-cost carrier had started flights connecting Shirdi with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Indore last year.

The Shirdi airport, which became operational on 1st October 2017, has been designed to handle a total of 300 passengers, including the arriving ones. Constructed at an investment of around ₹350 crores, the airport, with a 2,500 m-long runway, is capable of handling single narrow-body aircraft, such as Airbus A320 and Boeing 737s.

Shirdi is an important and popular pilgrimage site in Maharashtra. It is known as the place where saint Sai Baba resided, preached his teachings and attained Samadhi.

Another carrier SpiceJet operates daily flights to Shirdi from Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru.

In other news, consolidated net profit at IndiGo surged 168% to ₹496 crores in the three months to 31 December.

According to the data released by the DGCA, the domestic air passenger traffic in December 2019 increased by 2.56% to 1.30 crore compared to the same month in 2018. IndiGo maintained its leadership position with a 47.5% share of the domestic passenger market in December 2019, the data showed.