Indian puts Surat on air map

New Delhi, May 6 (UNI) Indian (Airlines) has put the diamond city of Surat in Gujarat on air map with the introduction of a daily direct flight from Delhi.

Surat has thus become 54th domestic destination on Indian's network and the fourth city in Gujarat, after Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Jamnagar, to be linked by Indian.

Minister for civil aviation Praful Patel flagged off the inaugural flight from Surat to Delhi at 1240 hrs today. Indian has deployed a brand new Airbus A319 aircraft for the route.

While IC 417 from Delhi to Surat will depart at 1030 hrs and reach Surat at 1200 hrs, the return flight IC 418 will leave Surat at 1240 hrs and arrive in Delhi at 1410 hrs.

The introduction of the flight will facilitate the movement of business and leisure travellers, an airline official said.

Surat airport has been upgraded to meet the requirements of a growing aviation industry with increased traffic demands.

UNI