SpiceJet’s deal with Emirates offers hope

PUNE: The code sharing agreement of SpiceJet with Emirates on Monday would be a big boost for overseas flyers at a time the grounding of Jet Airways and the suspension of Lufthansa’s Frankfurt flight affected international connectivity from the city.
SpiceJet officials stated that the arrangement would give passengers travelling from Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Amritsar and Kochi, among others, access to the huge network of Dubai-based Emirates across several destinations.“The agreement will open new routes between India and popular destinations across the US, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. SpiceJet passengers travelling from close to 41 domestic destinations will now be able to access Emirates’ expansive network across the globe,” a SpiceJet official told TOI.
Another official of the airline said, “SpiceJet passengers travelling from India will now have more choice to travel seamlessly with minimum connection times while flying to destinations in Emirates’ Europe network such as London, Paris, Frankfurt, Manchester and Amsterdam. Subject to regulatory approvals, the code-share agreement will also open up flights for Indian travellers to North and South American destinations such as New York, Washington, Toronto and Sao Paulo as well as Middle East destinations such as Jeddah, Kuwait and Amman, operated by Emirates.”
Optimized scheduling will ensure minimal transit time between India and these global destinations. Travellers on these code-share routes would be able to book connecting flights using a single reservation, the authorities stressed. It means passengers wishing to travel to any of the above destinations can directly book a ticket from Pune through SpiceJet.
Flyers hailed the code sharing agreement between SpiceJet and Emirates. “It is a welcome step considering that Pune has lost quite a few international connections suddenly. But one needs more direct international flights from Pune and airlines should consider the overseas routes,” Sanjay Joshi, a frequent flyer, told TOI.
Earlier, Jet had a direct flight to Abu Dhabi and another flight to Singapore. Its code sharing agreement had opened many destinations in the eastern and Asia Pacific region for Pune travellers. The Singapore flight of Jet had offered the city passengers connections, both direct and via code-share agreement, to places like Auckland, Bangkok, Brisbane, Jakarta, Phuket, Jinjiang, Medan, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Manila, Nadi, Penang and Perth. Similarly, the “suspended” flight of Lufthansa to Frankfurt offered passengers direct connection to Europe and the US.
Vistara, which is yet to begin its international operations despite getting permission, entered into an agreement with British Airways last June. It has been helpful for flyers travelling to the UK from Pune and vice versa as they could book a British Airways flight directly.
Sources at the airport, however, said the number of flights of Vistara from Pune was too few.