SpiceJet has discontinued its direct flight from Hyderabad to Ayodhya within two months of the launch (Image: X @SpiceJet Official)

SpiceJet has discontinued its direct flight from Hyderabad to Ayodhya within two months of the launch, which came into effect on June 1. The airline was operating an Airbus A320 aircraft on this route.

The inaugural flight took off on April 2, with flight SG 611 departing Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at 10.45 a.m. and arriving at Ayodhya’s Maharishi Valmiki International Airport at 12:45 p.m. The return flight, SG 616, left Ayodhya at 1:25 p.m. and landed back in Hyderabad at 3:25 p.m. This schedule of three direct flights in a week remained until May 30, when the last direct flight was run, according to the reports.

Also, Read|Indigo In Talks With SpiceJet Over Stocks Buy-Out

Telangana BJP Chief G. Kishan Reddy, who was then the Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, posted a letter in March on X that he had written to the Minister for Civil Aviation requesting to connect Hyderabad and Ayodhya.

In the letter, he stated, “The immense religious significance for countless devotees has led to the demand for efficient and direct transportation to Ram Janmabhoomi, the lack of direct flight service between Hyderabad and Ayodhya poses a significant challenge for devotees who wish to travel conveniently.”

As of February, the airline was connecting eight Indian cities to Ayodhya but since then it has terminated direct flights from six of those eight cities which are Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Patna, Darbhanga, and Hyderabad. SpiceJet only offers direct flights to Ayodhya from Ahmedabad and Delhi.

Also, Read| US Aviation Regulator’s Boeing 737-9 MAX Restrictions To Affect Indian Airlines

Currently, booking a flight from Hyderabad to Ayodhya on the airline’s website involves a layover at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, with a total flight time of seven hours and 25 minutes.