Mangaluru International Airport expands global reach with new Jeddah route by Air India Express

Mangaluru International Airport is all set to 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 2.50pm and reach Jeddah at 6.25pm Jeddah time.

On the return leg, IX 498 will depart Jeddah at 7.25pm Jeddah time and reach Mangaluru at 3.40am on Thursday.

Air India Express has opened booking for this new sector and the airline will deploy Boeing 737- 800 aircraft with a 186-seater all economy configuration for this flight. Jeddah incidentally is the first international sector than Mangaluru International Airport in collaboration with an airline, has added since 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 daily two flights 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). India has bilateral ASAs with multiple countries, including Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the spokesperson explained. 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.