AirAsia to soon fly from Imphal to Guwahati

A year after it launched operations in India, AirAsia is set to fly daily from June 25 in the north-east region between Guwahati and Imphal, the low-cost carrier said on Friday.

"We are offering an inaugural fare of Rs.900 on our website (airasia.com) by June 7 to fly from Guwahati to Imphal or vice-versa between June 25 and May 31, 2016," AirAsia India chief executive Mittu Chandilya said in statement here.

Imphal in Manipur is 480 km away from Guwahati in Assam by road.

The 55-minute flight takes off from Guwahati daily at 10.45 a.m. and lands at Imphal at 11.40 a.m. and leaves from there at 12.05 p.m. and returns to Guwahati at 13.00 p.m.

"As Imphal is a market with huge potential, we are certain this route will encourage affordable air travel," Chandilya said on the occasion.

The city-based AirAsia is a $30-million Indo-Malaysian joint venture of AirAsia Berhad (49 percent), Tata Sons (30 percent) and Telstra Tradeplace (21 percent).

"Feedback from our passengers on our product and services is encouraging to expand our network and improve connectivity between cities and tier-two cities," Chandilya added.

The budget carrier commenced operations on June 12, 2014, with its maiden service to Panjim in Goa, flying the Airbus A-320, and expanded its aerial network to Chennai in Tamil Nadu on June 19 and Kochi in Kerala from July 20.

The airline later connected Bengaluru to Jaipur in Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Pune in Maharasthra.

The airline's parent company Air Asia operates direct flights from Kula Lumpur in Malaysia and Bangkok in Thailand to Chennai, Bangaluru, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli and Kolkata.