DUBAI // Air India will soon be offering direct flights from Dubai to the Indian port city of Visakhapatnam.
T Subbarami Reddy, a member of India's parliament, said the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Ajit Singh, would inaugurate the first flight on March 27.
"It will benefit a lot of people travelling to Visakhapatnam from Dubai," Mr Reddy said. "There is a big demand for the flight. It will fly via Hyderabad."
He said details about the timings and schedule of the flights were being arranged.
M Rajesh, an Indian resident of Abu Dhabi, said the flights would make it easier to travel to his home town. "We've been waiting for it for a long time. It is a good news," Mr Rajesh said.
Currently, he must either take a flight to Chennai or Hyderabad in order to get to Visakhapatnam.
"Our travel time will be less," he said. "It is the first direct flight to our home town."
Visakhapatnam, also known as Vizag, is a major port city on India's south-east coast. With a population of approximately 1.7million, it is the second-largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Another happy Indian was LV Ajith Kumar, of Dubai, who said: "Many people will benefit because of the new flight, especially those staying close to Vizag.
"People were taking trains and connecting flights to go to Vizag after disembarking at Hyderabad."
