SilkAir inaugurates flights to Bangalore

Flights target leisure, business and Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) market segments in both cities.

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, has launched daily services Monday between Singapore and Bangalore, the capital city of the state of Karnataka, according to a SilkAir report.

The first flight, MI 428, took off at 2250 hours Monday from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2. The turnaround flight will then depart from Bangalore at 0130 hours and reach Singapore at 0835hrs.

Customers on the first flights out of Singapore and Bangalore were given special inaugural flight souvenirs to mark the special occasion.

The flights out of Singapore catered to leisure, business and Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) market segments. The flights also enabled easy connections for customers travelling from America, Europe, Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

For customers from Bangalore, the new service would offer direct flights to Singapore and the convenience of onward connections to more than 90 international cities in the joint Singapore Airlines-SilkAir network.

These newly introduced flights to Bangalore would complement Singapore Airlines' existing daily flights to the city. In total, the SIA Group of airlines will be offering two daily flights between Singapore and Bangalore.

The third most populous city in India, Bangalore is known as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’, being home to numerous software companies. One of Asia's fastest growing cities, Bangalore's other thriving industries include manufacturing and electronics.

For Bangalore customers keen to visit Singapore, the Lion City promises a multitude of attractions, such as the famous Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo, Sentosa, the Singapore Flyer, Arab Street, Chinatown and Geylang Serai. Additionally, visitors can look forward to the annual Great Singapore Sale where attractive discounts and excellent deals on many consumer items are offered.

"SilkAir is thrilled to commence services to this exciting city. As one of the fastest growing cities in Asia, Bangalore offers tremendous opportunities for both inbound and outbound travel, be it for business or leisure. SilkAir is well placed to tap on this growth with our extensive combined network coverage with our parent company, Singapore Airlines.

"The new flights that SilkAir is offering are in addition to Singapore Airlines' existing services, thus giving our customers more flexibility and choice of schedules," said SilkAir’s Chief Executive, Mr Chin Yau Seng.

Next month, SilkAir will also be launching services to another Indian destination – Chennai. Daily flights to this capital city of the state of Tamil Nadu will begin on 14 June 2010.

SilkAir's foray into the Indian market began in June 1999 when it began services to Thiruvananthapuram (also known as Trivandrum), the capital of the southwestern state of Kerala. Since then, the airline has steadily built up its Indian network over the years. With the addition of Bangalore and Chennai, SilkAir will fly to six points in the country. Besides Thiruvananthapuram (three times weekly services), the other Indian destinations are Kochi (daily services), Hyderabad (daily services) and Coimbatore (three times weekly services).