Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is attracting passengers for multiple reasons, including the India-Pakistan T-20 match, Dubai Festival and tourism and business activities. This is reflecting in the booking of tickets for the forthcoming Indore-Dubai flight. The excitement over the coming Indore-Sharjah flight, schedule to start on November 1, is also rising.
Following the announcement of the launch of the Indore-Sharjah direct flight, excitement among the potential passengers is on an upward spiral. Although it will start next month, queries have started to knock on the offices of travel agents in the city. TK Jose, chairman of the MP Chapter of Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI), said that passengers were quite enthusiastic over the news of launching of the Indore-Sharjah flight by Air India on November 1. He said that many of his clients had expressed happiness over the launch of a second flight for Sharjah.
Fare to Sharjah likely to be same as Dubai
The fare on the Indore-Sharjah flight is likely to be the same as that on the Indore-Dubai flight, because the travel time for both the destinations is almost same. Sharjah and Dubai are about 40 km away. The passengers on the Sharjah flight can reach Dubai in approximately 40 minutes as there are abundant means of transportation between both the cities. The ticket booking for the Sharjah flight has not yet been opened by Air India. The starting fare on the Economy class may be around Rs 12,000 and may go up to Rs 44,000. In case of Business class, the starting fare may be from Rs 416,000 and may go up to Rs 60,000.
Craze of T-20 India-Pak match reflects on tickets
Jose said that, before the Sharjah flight, passengers are showing great zeal for the Dubai flight, too, particularly for October 20, as one of the matches of the T-20 World Cup between India and Pakistan will be played on that date at Dubai International Stadium. The tickets for all the 12 seats of the Business class of the flight have been sold; out of 152 seats of the Economy class, just 4 seats were left unsold by Saturday evening.
5-year UAE visa at Rs 13K
‘The UAE government’s passenger-friendly policies are attracting passengers. The UAE government is offering a 5-year visa to tourists and businessmen at just Rs 13,000. This is proving a trump card in attracting passengers. Besides that, the visa-on-arrival facility has been extended to all NRI passengers who hold US visa. However, the rules for Employment Visa are different’
— TK Jose, chairman of the MP Chapter of Travel Agents’ Federation of India
Approvals given to Sharjah flight
In the meantime, the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport administration has given the necessary approvals to the Sharjah flight, according to airport director Prabodh Chandra Sharma.
