Booked my first flight with Star Air

Star Air is a low cost airline launched by Sanjay Ghodawath group. They have been in business for few years (started in 2019) now and operate short haul flights in and around airports of South India. I wanted to try their flight but didn't have any need so far.

Recently I fould their Hyderabad-Shivamogga flight a good match for one my travel needs. Have booked  a ticket, will look forward to the experience.

Observations so far:

• 350 INR convenience fee on their official website, so I had to book their ticket on EaseMyTrip
• Flightstats doesn't have data on star air's on time performance yet. So hopefully my flight operates without any major delay.
• There hasn't been any major incidents, customer complaints or other issues with the airline, which is a good sign. 

The flight is in June 2025 though, so you've to wait for 2.5 months for a review.

 Related: Star Air new routes * Star Air takes off *

Indigo launches Mumbai Seychelles flight, no cheaper than Air Seychelles

Indigo has launched Mumbai-Seychelles flight, which is good. But the not so good part is their pricing is no cheaper than full service airline Air Seychelles.

Air Seychelles used to charge about 34k return if you plan 6 months in advance. Indigo is charging the same amount. Given that Indigo charges extra for food, there should be some gap on the lower side compared to Air Seychelles flight.

Let us see how it goes over the time. Will Air Seychelles drop its price?  

Seychelles is very expensive destination in Africa to visit- No hostels, taxi is expensive, local flights and ferry are also expensive. So need to plan well.

Related: Air Seychelles cuts India flights 

Manta Air has stopped BLR Dhaalu atol flights

Manta air website is no longer selling tickets from BLR to Dhaalu atol in Maldives and back.

This BLR-DDD flight was announced and launched sometime in 2024 but for reasons best known to them, they kept the fare very high at 50k return, more expensive than a ticket to Europe. I guess the patronage has not been good. I was willing to give it a try if return ticket is available for 20k, but 50k was not reasonable for me. Now they don't operate this route any more. To go to Dhaalu atol you've to fly to Male and then take another flight, increasing cost and time.

Will be good if Manta air reconsiders direct flight to India- BLR is bit far for the small plane- maybe Kochi to DDD for under 20k, at least 2-3 times a week will be great opportunity for folks who've already visited Male & Gan Island.

VietJet resumes BLR & HYD flights

Vietjet had announced flights from BLR and HYD to Saigon in their early India days (2022) but had cancelled these flights due to some permission issue. [Read 2022 post on this]

Vietjet has resumed flights from BLR and HYD finally. You can fly directly to Ho Chi Minh city or one stop to other destinations

Not very cheap- a return ticket is costing 17-18k as of now to Saigon, but you can check for your dates and destinations or wait for next sale.

My Mumbai Phu Quoc Vietjet air experience here