SpiceJet ‘temporarily’ suspends flight services from Puducherry airport

SpiceJet decides to temporarily suspend flight from Puducherry services due to operational difficulties.

Puducherry’s bad patch on the aviation map of the country continues with SpiceJet, the only flight operator from Puducherry Airport, deciding to temporarily suspend services due to “operational difficulties.” A few days ago, the private operator stopped services from Puducherry to Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 

“We don’t know the exact reason for suspending the flights. They have stopped services to both the sectors citing operational difficulties. They have agreed to re-launch operations from next month,” said an official with Airports Authority of India, Puducherry office. 

However, enquires with SpiceJet revealed the flight operator may take more time to resume services to both the sectors from Puducherry. The government was not aware of suspension of operations even till Monday evening. “The service provider has not informed us on the development,” a senior official told The Hindu. 

When contacted, a SpiceJet ground staff, said the services from Puducherry airport was suspended on June 13. 

“As of now, we have stopped bookings till October. The reasons for suspension of service are several including flight shortage,” said a SpiceJet staff.

The region has been on and off the aviation map intermittently for some time now. SpiceJet had first launched its operations from Puducherry in 2013 with a direct flight connecting Puducherry and Bengaluru. However, about a year later, the airline stopped services citing viability issues. 

Another operator, Alliance Air, the budget airlines of Air India, entered the Puducherry aviation map in April, 2015. Six months later, the airline stopped operations following a subsidy spat with the Puducherry government.