Fly to anywhere in India from Mangaluru airport

Mangaluru: With airports coming up in tier-II cities of Karnataka and in the country even in difficult terrains in the North Eastern Sector, regional connectivity has become easier for the State's second most populous airport- Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) and it is now possible for flyers from Mangaluru to reach any corner of the country with more and more operators announcing their arrival. Hitherto,it was connected to only three cities -- Mumbai and Bengaluru and Chennai.

With operators giving options to fly from MIA, Guwahati, Jaipur, Bagdogra, Kolkata, Hubballi, and even Delhi are now accessible via direct or through or short-layover flights. If Guwahati opens the doors to tourist havens in the North-East such as Guwahati, Shillong, and Tsomgo Lake in Sikkim–all of which are well connected by surface transport–, Jaipur offers Rajasthan on a plate to tourists via Mumbai and Bengaluru.

A trip from Bengaluru to Bagdogra will bring you closer to Darjeeling, Chalsa, Siliguri, Guwahati, Kaziranga National Park, and the rest of the North-East. A flight from Bengaluru to Kolkata would also bring you closer to Bagdogra, Siliguri, and Chala. Closer to home, weekly flights to Hubballi bring you in reach of tourist attractions like Gokarna, Jog Falls, Hampi, and even the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi. One-stop flights from Bengaluru and Mumbai will put travellers in the centre of the Golden Triangle tourist circuit, with Jaipur and Agra forming the other two corners.

The proximity of Delhi to hill stations such as Shimla, Dalhousie, Nainital, and Mussoorie makes it a great destination for people wishing to escape the summer heat. MIA is now linked to Delhi by a connecting flight from Pune. Passenger footfalls at MIA in the last 10 days confirm this rising trend for both business and leisure travel. On May 1, MIA had 6231 passengers and 50 domestic and international flight movements. On April 30, MIA reported 5942 passenger movements and 5942 passenger footfall. Since April 24, these figures have remained above 4750. The least number of flights was 36 on April 25 and 29.

Since May 1, the summer schedule has witnessed an increase in domestic flight movements from 97 to 108. Internationally, MIA serves tourist hotspots such as Dubai, Dammam, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, and Kuwait via Kannur and Vishakhapatnam, as well as Doha, with IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India Express (AIE) offering daily and seasonal flights. AIE alone serves seven of the aforementioned Middle Eastern locations.

With layover times between the connecting flights between many centres like Mumbai-Indore, Bengaluru-Mumbai, Indore-Jaipur is now as low as three hours. With smaller airports also now equipped with fast wifi connectivity flyers do not mind the layover periods.