Adani Mundra Airport begins operations with Star Air services to Goa, Mumbai and Surat

The launch of commercial flights from Adani Mundra Airport will boost connectivity and interface from Mundra, Adani Airport Holdings Director Jeet Adani said on Tuesday.

The airport will help unlock unprecedented economic potential for the Kutch region, Adani Group said in a statement. This is the third airport in the region, other two being at Kandla and Bhuj.

Earlier in the day, regional carrier Star Air became the first airline to start scheduled commercial flights at the airport, with the inaugural flight landing from Goa.

As part of the current operations, Adani Mundra Airport, fully owned and operated by Adani Group, will connect Goa, Mumbai, Hindon and Surat. As of now the airport does not have a heavy schedule, Jeet Adani said adding that "we have a couple of flights connecting...Goa, Surat, Mumbai, and we'll be starting Ahmedabad soon as well." The new airport, with a 1,900-metre runway, was inaugurated by Jeet Adani.

"We see that this (Adani Mundra Airport) will open up a significant amount of connectivity and interface from Mundra, our 'karmabhoomi', to the rest of India," he said.

When asked if the facility would also be looking at airlines operating narrow-body (single aisle) aircraft, he said it is too early to comment on this and to start with, it will be only regional flights.

"The supply chain is extremely tight and most of the narrow-bodies that they already have are near full. So we are also not pushing for getting a narrow-body because we are letting the economics work for themselves. So right now only Star Air we are starting with. And then as demand grows, we believe that others will follow," Jeet Adani said.

The airport also plans to have flights from Belagavi, Bengaluru, Kolhapur and Nanded.

The air route is a calculated move to fuel the economic engine of India's largest private port Mundra, and the country's largest SEZ at Mundra, the airport operator said.

The launch of eight new air services by Star Air from Tuesday will create an express corridor, reducing travel time for trade, commerce, logistics and tourism, fuelling the economic engine at Mundra port.