Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, today commenced its new non-stop service between Mumbai and Manchester, further expanding the airline’s connectivity in the United Kingdom (UK). This new service is the first non-stop service connecting India, via its economic capital with Manchester, the 3rd largest city in the UK.
With the launch of its 5th non-stop service to/from the UK, Jet Airways is now the largest carrier between Mumbai and the UK and Manchester, the 21st international destination on the carrier’s network.
Ahead of the launch of its inaugural service from Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Jet Airways conducted a multi-faith prayer followed by ceremonial lamp lighting ceremony to mark the occasion of its inaugural flight. This inaugural function was led by Mr Raj Sivakumar – Senior Vice-President, Worldwide Sales & Distribution, Jet Airways. Mr. Tom Mottershead, Deputy Director for Trade and Innovation, British Deputy High Commission, dignitaries and invitees from airport (MIAL) graced the occasion with their presence. This was followed by a ceremonial ribbon cutting and handing over of the boarding passes to guests by senior Jet Airways officials to mark the flight’s launch.
The airline’s first flight to Manchester 9W 130, departed on schedule from Mumbai at 0230 hrs with a full complement of Premiere and Economy guests on board its modern wide body A330-200 aircraft. The flight will arrive at Manchester’s Terminal 2 at 0755 hrs (Local time). The return flight, 9W 129 will depart from Manchester at 0935 hrs (Local time) and is scheduled to arrive at Mumbai’s Terminal 2 at 0040 hrs.
Mr. Raj Sivakumar, Senior Vice-President – Worldwide Sales & Distribution, Jet Airways, said, “The launch of maiden flight between Mumbai and Manchester is a proud moment for us. Guests travelling to the United Kingdom will now have multiple options to travel to destinations of their choice. Our new 5 days-a-week non-stop service brings Manchester into our global network, expanding our footprint as well as the choice of connectivity to and from the United Kingdom for our guests. The new service will enable Jet Airways to offer over 8,500 seats every week, making it increasingly convenient for business guests, leisure travelers as well as students, to travel between India and the UK, strengthening commerce as well as tourism ties between the two countries.”
Mr SivaKumar further said, “Manchester also becomes an additional gateway to North America with seamless connectivity to New York, Atlanta and other destinations with our code share partners Virgin Atlantic and Delta. Also our Mancehster-based guests can seamlessly connect on Jet Airways’ flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Colombo.”
The new flight assumes even greater importance with the ‘The Manchester-India Partnership’ championed by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Sh. Narendra Modi, to help strengthen cultural and business ties between the two economies. The launch of the new service will also support with the recommendations of the UK Government, which has been promoting connectivity to other key cities in the UK, besides London Heathrow.
Since announcing the new service in May this year, the airline has been working to strengthen additional connectivity choices for guests arriving in Manchester, who can now connect onwards to North America and Europe or even within the UK, via flights with Jet Airways’ partner carriers including Virgin Atlantic, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France and other interline partners. Jet Airways’ guests and those of certain partner carriers will also be able to enjoy mutual earn and burn of miles on each other frequent flyer programmes as per agreement between the respective airlines.
Conversely, guests flying via Mumbai will be able to access Jet Airways’ network of 46 destinations within India. Similarly, quick connections to beyond points on Jet Airways’ international network such as Bangkok, Colombo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dhaka and Kathmandu, will now be available. Some of the domestic destinations to which the new service will seamlessly connect to from Mumbai include Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhuj, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Nagpur, Raipur, Rajkot, Udaipur, and Vadodara.
The new service between Mumbai and Manchester is expected to be of special significance to business & leisure travelers, as also for a significant diaspora of people, including a growing Indian community residing in and around Manchester. The fast-expanding business and industrial hub also has one of the largest student communities in Europe, besides being extremely well connected to other major cities such as Liverpool, Leeds, Lake District and Sheffield, all within close proximity to Manchester.
Jet Airways’ A330-200 aircraft with 254 seats including 18 in Première will operate on the new sector. The A330 is a world-class product providing the luxury of spacious seating in quiet cabins, where guests can experience Jet Airways’ highly acclaimed in-flight service characterised by fine dining, together with a choice of their preferred meal as part of the ‘Dine Anytime’ concept. Guests can also enjoy endless hours of the airline’s carefully curated audio-video programming comprising favourite Indian and international blockbusters, popular TV shows and TV Shorts, business news and audio compilations with the airline’s award-winning Inflight Entertainment system – JetScreen.
Jet Airways has also introduced inaugural JetEscapes Holiday packages from Mumbai to Manchester starting at INR 57,350/- wherein guests will be able to avail return air travel, airport transfers, hotel accommodation with breakfast, sightseeing, travel insurance (ex- India) and assured JPMiles on every booking.
The new service will complement the carrier’s existing thrice daily, non-stop services between Mumbai – London Heathrow, and a daily service between Delhi – London Heathrow. The launch of the new service comes one year after the airline launched 3 new international services last year on 29th October, 2018 to Amsterdam, Paris and London from Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai respectively.
Growth in Cargo
The launch of 5 days a week flights to Manchester enhances Jet Airways’ cargo capacity to approximately 1550 tonnes a week between India and UK and more importantly, opens a 2nd important destination in the UK to shippers, exporters and manufacturers from India. The opening up of Manchester route will enable the airline to offer the much needed daily direct capacity from Mumbai and other stations in India for carriage of commodities such as perishables, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, garments & fabrics, foodstuffs, as well as specialized medical equipment, among others. The non-stop service will fuel trade and further develop business, from India to Manchester and greater area and vice versa.
Jet Airways eduJetter programme:
Jet Airways is making it easier for young and ambitious students travelling abroad for higher studies at prestigious universities, and starting a new life with its eduJetter programme. eduJetter includes a host of benefits which include an exceptional baggage allowance of up to 46 kgs tagged and checked-in till the final destination, 7500 JPMiles, 8% discount on Base fare, as well as a bouquet of partner benefits such as Forex Card from Cox & Kings, free SIM card with exclusive calling rates from Uniconnect, as well as 10% discount on JetEscapes travel / holiday packages. For more information, students may log on to jetairways.com/eduJetter or call on 1800 225522 or 02239893333.
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