Mangaluru: Mangaluru International Airport will add Jeddah as its eighth overseas sector in the upcoming summer schedule. Air India Express has announced the weekly flight that will operate every Wednesday starting April 3, 2024. Flight IX 499 Mangaluru-Jeddah will depart Mangaluru at 2:50 pm and reach Jeddah at 6:25 pm Jeddah time. On the return leg, IX 498 will depart Jeddah at 7:25 pm Jeddah time and reach Mangaluru at 3:40 am on Thursday.

Air India Express has opened booking for this new sector and the airline will deploy Boeing 737-800 aircraft with an 186-seater all-economy configuration for this flight. Jeddah incidentally is the first international sector that Mangaluru International Airport in collaboration with an airline, has added since its commercial operation date of October 31, 2020. “MIA is in constant touch with airline partners to add new international sectors from Mangaluru,” the airport spokesperson said.

At present, Mangaluru internationally is connected to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, and Muscat. Air India Express operates two flights daily to Dubai, while IndiGo operates four flights a week to the same destination. Air India Express also operates flights to Abu Dhabi (4/week), Dammam and Muscat (3/week); Bahrain and Doha (2/week) and Kuwait (1/week). “Jeddah is an important addition and one for which there was demand,” the spokesperson noted.

International airports in India, Mangaluru International Airport included operate flights to overseas destinations, based on existing bilateral air service agreements (ASA). The spokesperson explained that India has bilateral ASAs with multiple countries, including Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In the case of Mangaluru International Airport, international operations from this coastal city including soon-to-be-added Jeddah, is focused on the Middle East destinations, the spokesperson added.