Direct flights India to King Shaka

Description:

Direct flights are on the cards to fly from India to Durban's new King Shaka Airpirt

It has emerged that Jet Airways, India's second-biggest airline, is considering introducing direct flights to Durban from Mumbai

Naresh Goyal, the boss of privately owned Jet Airways, discussed the matter with KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize on Friday


Mkhize confirmed that talks were under way to secure a direct route between Mumbai and Durban. He emphasised that this was "a work in progress" and approval from aviation regulators was needed

Teams from the provincial government and Jet Airways will start working on this and nothing has been finalised jet but should be finalised as soon as possible

Mkhize noted that Jet Airways had begun daily flights between Joburg and Mumbai last month, and said KZN's strong historical, business and cultural links with India boded well for the establishment of direct flights from Durban

Naidoo said he had met Goyal because it was important to have direct flights between Durban and India. They would be cheaper and would save time for KZN travellers to the subcontinent

"It is believed it will happen and it's just a matter of time, because a significant number of travellers to India come from Durban and go via Joburg. Jet Airways has just launched daily flights out of Joburg, so they can do the research to check how many travellers on flights originate from Durban

A Durban route to India will probably start operating about three times a week. Depending on demand, this could become a daily service

Rohan Persad, chief executive of the Dube TradePort, said routes had been targeted out of key markets for the new airport, including Dubai, India, London, Frankfurt and China.