Opening up travel between India and the North of England, with its latest direct connection to Manchester, Jet Airways will become the largest carrier between the UK and Mumbai.

Starting 5 November 2018, India’s premier international airline will launch the first non-stop service between Manchester and Mumbai. Further strengthening its flight offering in the United Kingdom and Jet Airways’ commitment to opening up travel to India for UK business and leisure travellers, the service will operate four days a week including Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Given Manchester’s position as Europe’s second largest digital hub, the new service between Manchester and Mumbai is likely to benefit a large number of business travellers, as well as making travel more convenient for the growing Indian community, including both families and students, now residing in and around Manchester and holiday makers in the region. It will also connect surrounding cities such as Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield to India.

Manchester will become the 66^th addition to the Jet Airways network and its 21^st international destination. With the introduction of the new flight – the carrier’s 5^th non-stop service to/from the UK, Jet Airways will also become the largest carrier between Mumbai and the UK.

The launch of this new service will provide seamless connectivity to nearly 35 domestic destinations to and from India which include Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bhuj, Bhopal, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Nagpur, Rajkot, Raipur, Udaipur, via the airline’s HUB in Mumbai.

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.

“The new service will complement the carrier’s existing three daily, non-stop services between London Heathrow and Mumbai”

The new service will complement the carrier’s existing three daily, non-stop services between London Heathrow and Mumbai, and once a day service between London Heathrow and Delhi. The launch of the new route comes one year after the airline launched three new international services to Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai, from Amsterdam, Paris and London respectively.

Vinay Dube, Chief Executive Officer, Jet Airways said: “We are extremely pleased to begin a new chapter in our decade-long relationship with the United Kingdom. The new service will bring Manchester into our global network, reinforcing our global footprint, as well as expanding the choice of connectivity to and from the United Kingdom for our guests with the four days a week, non-stop service. With the new flight, Jet Airways will have over 8,000 seats on offer every week, making it increasingly convenient for both business and leisure travellers to travel between UK and India. This will deepen both commerce and tourism ties between the two countries”.

Manchester Airport CEO Andrew Cowan, who said: “Securing a direct service to one of India’s major cities is the product of a lot of hard work over a long period of time to forge closer ties between Manchester and this globally significant economy. I am delighted Jet Airways have recognised this by launching what I’m sure will be a hugely popular service, not least for the 500,000 people of Indian origin living across the North. This route will deliver a major boost to businesses looking to export to the world’s fastest-growing economy, as well as helping to attract Indian visitors and investors to the North. We look forward to working with Jet Airways on launching the Mumbai service in the months ahead.”

The new flight assumes even greater importance with the ‘The Manchester-India Partnership’ championed by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, 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.

The flight, 9W 129 will depart from Manchester Terminal 2 at 9.35am (Local time) and arrive in Mumbai’s Terminal 2 at 12.40am (Local time). Return flights from Mumbai will leave at 2.30am (Local time) and arrive in Manchester at 7.55am hrs (Local time).

Passengers travelling on this route will be able to take advantage of the benefits of Jet Airways’ A330-200 aircraft comprising of 254 seats including 18 in Premiere which will operate on this service. 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 Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters, popular TV shows and TV Shorts, business news and audio compilations with the airline’s award-winning Inflight Entertainment system JetScreen.

Flights from Manchester to Mumbai are available to book now through jetairways.com or by downloading the Jet Airways mobile app, with fares starting at GBP 455.24 (return) (USD 600).