Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, announced the launch of direct daily flights from Bengaluru to Singapore and Colombo respectively. Effective December 14, 2016, the airline will start its new service to Singapore, further expanding its 
Bengaluru, long established as a key IT destination, is increasingly gaining prominence as a global investment destination, resulting in a significant growth in aviation traffic – both domestic and international – into and out of the garden city.
The start-up capital of India with several Singapore-based entities as key investors, also houses the headquarters of leading global corporates, accounting for significant traffic between Singapore and Bengaluru – with a substantial spillover to neighbouring towns and cities. In fact, the number of passengers travelling between Bengaluru and Singapore has grown 15 percent year on year and is set to grow further in the near future. Increasingly, there is also a growing number of leisure travellers choosing to fly on this sector.
Jet Airways already operates twice daily flights from Mumbai and Delhi and a single daily flight from Chennai to Singapore. The new flight 9W 024 will depart Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport at 11:10 hrs. and arrive in Singapore at 16:10 hrs. (Local Time). Aside from Bengaluru, guests from Hyderabad, Mengaluru, Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram, will also be able to seamlessly connect to onward destinations in Asia including Tokyo Haneda, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Penang and Shanghai, as well as key cities in Australia like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth via Singapore. The return flight – 9W 023, leaves Singapore at 19:15 hrs. (LT) and arrives in Bengaluru at 21:15 hrs.
Starting January 05, 2016, the airline will also launch its third international direct daily flight from Bengaluru to Colombo, providing travelers a convenient link between the Indian IT hub and Sri Lankan capital.
Bengaluru will be the second Indian city, after Mumbai, to be linked to Colombo and Jet Airways’ third daily service to the Sri Lankan capital, expanding capacity by one-third on the route.
Jet Airways flight 9W 278 will depart Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport at 0040 hrs., arriving in Colombo at 0210 hrs. (Local Time). The flight 9W 277 will leave Colombo at 0310 hrs. (LT) to arrive in Bengaluru at 0435 hrs. (LT) giving guests a head start into the day.
Sri Lanka is fast emerging as a global IT-BPM destination of choice in number of key areas. The island nation is ranked amongst the Top 50 Global Outsourcing destinations by AT Kearney. Together with rising corporate and business traffic, there is also a growing VFR (Visit Friends & Relatives) movement between the two cities due to many tourist attractions. In fact, Colombo is increasingly becoming a quick getaway destination for a lot of leisure travellers.
Jet Airways will deploy a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) aircraft on both these routes, offering Premiere and Economy guests the best in-flight product and services along with award-winning in-flight Entertainment (IFE). Guests will also be able to select meals from a carefully-curated menu of international and regional delicacies.
The airline will mark the launch of tomorrow’s service with a multi-faith pooja and the lighting of a symbolic lamp. The lamp-lighting ceremony will be led by Mr. S M Krishna, former Minister of External Affairs; Mr. Mohandas Pai, CEO, Manipal Global; Mr. R V Deshpande, Minister for large and medium industries, Mr. Hari Marar, Director Operations, BIAL; Mr. Arun Shrivastava, CMD, Syndicate Bank; Mr. Praveen Iyer, VP, Commercial (India Sales) from Jet Airways. The first guest to be checked in for the inaugural flight will be presented with the boarding pass by Mr. Praveen Iyer and Mr. Alok Sawhney, GM, International Sales, Jet Airways.