GO FIRST (formerly known as GoAir), operated the first-ever night flight from Jammu to Delhi on July 23rd, thus becoming the first airline in the history of Indian aviation to achieve this feat. Passengers in the GO FIRST flight G8 196 – which took off at 20:00 hours – enjoyed the Airbus A320neo. Going forward, GO FIRST will operate scheduled flights from Jammu to Delhi and Srinagar.
The inaugural night flight was flagged off by Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Manoj Sinha from Jammu Civil Enclave with a full complement of passengers for Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi in the august presence of Ranjan Thakur, Principal Secretary, Industry and Commerce, Jammu & Kashmir; Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police; Sanjeev Garg, Airport Director; Air Commodore A S Pathania AOC; Raghav Langer, Divisional Commissioner; Anshul Garg, Deputy Commissioner; Gurjeet Singh, CASO – CISF Jammu Airport; Mahesh Singh, Deputy Commandant, CISF Jammu Airport; Vikas Deputy Commandant, CISF Jammu Airport; Group Captain Sandeep Singh, COO; Wing Commander, Manav Anand, SATCO; Vijay Mishra, CSO – CISF Jammu Airport; Sajad Ahmed, Deputy SP, Anti hijacking; Atul Goel, DIG Police and Chandan Kohli, SSP Police.
This heralds the beginning of a new era for the union territory that has long advocated the introduction of night flights for better connectivity with the rest of the country. Thus GO FIRST has extended its commitment to the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir by inaugurating the first-ever night flight from Jammu following Srinagar. GO FIRST will operate four flights a week from Jammu on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to Delhi and three flights from Jammu on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday to Srinagar respectively. The schedule of these flights have been planned to offer passengers additional options and convenient connections from Delhi and Srinagar.
Commenting on the milestone, Kaushik Khona, Chief Executive Officer, GO FIRST, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to dedicate the first night flight from Jammu to Delhi as a salute to the spirit of Jammu. Jammu & Kashmir has always been a strategic market for us and we are committed to the development of the union territory as we grow our operations here. This initiative will assist the farming community and also strengthen the tourism sector, which plays a major role in the economic growth of the region. We will continue to provide better connectivity and play a role in the economic development of J&K. GO FIRST is also strengthening the network across the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir by enhancing the number of flights to-and-from Jammu to Delhi and Srinagar. I take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Srinagar Airport Authorities, CISF and the entire team at GO FIRST that supported this endeavour.”
GO FIRST has been committed to the development of the region and this initiative will give a major fillip to the economic activity in the region. Earlier this year, the carrier signed an MoU with the J&K government for the transport of perishable horticulture and agriculture produce to international markets at competitive rates. This is a boon to farmers in the region and is aiding them to generate an optimum return for their produce.
GO FIRST will continue to offer a safe and seamless experience on-board our aircraft as we consistently strive to maintain the highest levels of safety and hygiene across all touchpoints in our operating flights.
