2 mn travel to US & UK from Hyderabad, but few direct flights, BA

Despite nearly two million passengers travelling from Hyderabad to overseas destinations in 2023-24, the city has only a handful of international flights departing from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), according to data collected by the airport authorities.

In fact, RGIA currently has no direct flights to key destinations such as the US, African countries, Australia, Vietnam and Indonesia. Incidentally, more than a million people travelled to American cities such as Dallas, Washington DC, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Houston last financial year.

Telugus sign petition for Hyd-Dallas connectivity. Such is the demand for direct flights to the US that a few months ago, as many as 5,500 Telugus signed a petition urging Air India to start a service between Hyderabad and Dallas, the US city with one of the largest populations of NRIs from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Even the UK, another popular destination, where nearly 5 lakh passengers travelled from Hyderabad in the last financial year, has only one direct flight. In contrast, cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru have at least three daily flights to the UK.

“Hyderabad airport boasts a large student population travelling. There is also robust demand for leisure, education and business travel. Hyderabad ranks third after Delhi and Mumbai in the number of passengers flying to US without a direct flight, with similar trends for Europe and Australia,” said an RGIA official.

Travel agents urged the state govt to take up matter with ministry of civil aviation and international airlines.

“Several airlines have stopped direct flights from Hyderabad to Vietnam and the Maldives, citing low passenger numbers. Before the pandemic, there was a direct flight between Hyderabad and Chicago twice a week, but that service has also been discontinued,” said Abdul Majeed Faheem, chairman of the Travel Agents Federation (Hyderabad). “For a long time, Turkish Airlines has been expressing interest in establishing a direct route between Istanbul and Hyderabad, but it has yet to materialise.”Calling for more focus on Hyderabad, another travel agent, Moez Meghani, said airlines need to conduct thorough market research in Hyderabad to assess the demand for international air travel and, based on their findings, introduce direct flights on routes that need such services.

Airlines focus on Mumbai, Delhi & Bengaluru for direct flights to US

“At present, airlines are prioritising cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru for direct flights to the US, UK and Australia. As for Hyderabad, the focus of direct flights is on the Middle East region,” he added, suggesting that this base be expanded.

This lack of direct flights has forced passengers to rely on flights with layovers in Mumbai, Delhi, Dubai, London and Singapore. “Direct flights to Dallas would cut travel time by six to eight hours. We urge the airlines, especially Air India, to provide direct flights between Hyderabad and various destinations in the US,” said B Srinivas, a frequent flier whose son lives in the American city.