MANGALURU: Despite being the state’s second largest airport, Mangaluru International Airport does not offer direct flights to Delhi. In March, airlines announced that they were suspending the service due to poor passenger load. Currently, connecting flights take more than five hours to reach Delhi. Sources say the route is not in demand. “This route was only in demand during the summer, especially when students studying in Manglauru or Manipal returned home. On weekends, there was also a demand. A senior executive of a low-budget airline claimed otherwise that the flight had only 50% occupancy. “This cannot be economically viable. “We may launch a service when the time is right,” the executive said. According to a senior official of another airline, the primary reason to stop a flight service is poor passenger load.
@mlrairport, the official handle of Mangaluru International Airport, claimed otherwise in a tweet on January 24, 2017. The tweet reads: “Both the Delhi-Mangalore Jet Airways flight and the Hyderabad-Mangalore Spicejet flight are doing well with over 90% loads as of now.” There was a direct flight to Delhi, which was suspended on March 28
