High Hopes Dashed: SpiceJet Discontinues Hyderabad To Ayodhya Direct Flight Route Within Two Months Due To Poor Ticket Sales

SpiceJet Limited, the budget carrier, in a surprising move has discontinued its direct flight service from Hyderabad to Ayodhya, within two months of its launch according to a report by The Hindu.

According to the report, the last flight service on this route was operated on May 30, 2024.

Reasons for Discontinuation

According to the Hindu report, citing the airline representative, it added that the primary reason behind discontinuing the route was of poor ticket sales. Although at the initial phase, there was a significant interest in the new route but the enthusiasm quickly wanes which lead to insufficient demand to sustain the service.

About the launch and route details

The inaugural flight, SG 611, departed from the Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on April 2, arriving at Ayodhya’s Maharishi Valmiki International Airport and the return flight, SG 616, completed the round trip on the same day. Moreover, the service of this direct flight from Hyderabad to Ayodhya by SpiceJet was scheduled to operate thrice a week.

Current Travel Scenario

As per the report, now traveler trying to look for the direct flight from Hyderabad to Ayodhya, have a less convenient option as they must book a flight with a layover at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, resulting in a total travel time of 7 hours and 25 minutes.

As of February, the budget carrier was connecting 8 Indian cities to Ayodhya. However, it has since terminated direct flights from six of those cities which includes Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Patna, Darbhanga, and Hyderabad.

As of now, only Ahmedabad and Delhi have direct SpiceJet flights to Ayodhya.

Political Advocacy for the Route

On March 31, Telangana BJP Chief G. Kishan Reddy, who was then the Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, posted a letter to the Minister for Civil Aviation, highlighting the need for a direct flight between Hyderabad and Ayodhya.

Share performance

The shares of the company on Wednesday, June 12, at 3:30 pm IST closed at Rs 55.00, down by 0.81 per cent.