Go First Boosts Domestic Schedule With 32 New Flights

As passenger traffic bounces back, Go First is looking to grow its reach in the domestic market. The ultra-low-cost carrier is adding 32 new routes and four new destinations as part of its expansion. Let’s find out more about the carrier’s plans.

Go First rebranded itself from GoAir as it looks to reduce debt and publicly list in the near future. Photo: Airbus

Adding more

Indian ultra-low-cost carrier Go First has announced a slate of new routes today. The growing network will see it offer flights to Amritsar, Surat, Dehradun, and Aizawl for the first time. This brings the carrier’s total domestic destinations up to to 31 and adds 32 new flights in total.

Punjab’s biggest hub, Amritsar, will see direct connections to Delhi (thrice daily), Mumbai (twice daily), and Srinagar (once daily). Given the well-established market in Amritsar, it’s not surprising that Go First is launching three daily services from the city.

Go First will be going up against all major Indian carriers in Amritsar, which is a critical market in the state. Photo: Getty Images

Surat was set to become one of Go First’s focus cities just weeks before the pandemic shut down the industry. Fast forward 20 months later, and the airline is finally launching services, with flights to Delhi (twice daily), Bangalore (daily), and Kolkata (daily). Now, the airline will be hoping that demand bounces back to the same level as March of last year.

More coming

The winter capital of the mountain state of Uttarakhand, Dehradun, will see new connectivity too. Go First will start direct flights to Delhi (twice daily) and Mumbai (daily) to serve demand to metro cities and offer further connections to other destinations.

Lastly, Go First will add flights in the capital of the Northeastern state of Mizoram, Aizawl. Aizawl will see flights to Delhi (3x weekly) with a stop in Guwahati on the AJL-DEL leg and direct flights to Kolkata (6x weekly).

Go First’s single fleet strategy means that all routes will be served by Airbus A320. Photo: Getty Images

In a statement about the domestic route growing, CEO Kaushik Khona said,

“At GO FIRST, it has been a constant endeavour to build a strong network that will offer our customers ease of travel and viable options to choose from. We believe that the addition of these new stations will not only make our network robust but would provide customers direct connectivity to metros and other important cities and beyond.”

Traffic rising

The Wadia Group-owned airline has had an interesting year. In May, GoAir rebranded itself as Go First, India’s first ultra-low-cost carrier, in a bid to shake up the company before an IPO. Now, the public listing is a matter of months away, with regulators clearing the process to continue after some initial pauses. If successful, the IPO will allow Go First to pay off its mountain of debt and continue an expansion.

All of this comes as the domestic market makes a strong recovery. Passenger numbers over the festival season have crossed March 2021 highs and are on track to make a full recovery by early next year. Go First is looking to take advantage of this rise and boost its market share as others falter.

What do you think about Go First’s new domestic expansion? Let us know in the comments!

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