The airline’s latest service connecting India via its commercial capital, with Manchester - the 3rd largest city in the UK will further strengthen Jet Airways’ connect with the United Kingdom (UK).

Jet Airways will deploy a wide body A330-200 with 254 seating for the service, which will now operate five days a week including Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Manchester will become the 21st international addition to the Jet Airways network and with the introduction of this new flight - the carrier’s 5th non-stop service to/from the UK, Jet Airways will also become the largest carrier between Mumbai and the UK.

Jet Airways and Marketing Manchester have organized a series of roadshows in order to promote awareness about the new non-stop service among the industry and other travel/ trade bodies and partners. Marketing Manchester is the agency charged with promoting Greater Manchester on the national and international stage to visitors, investors, conference organizers and students.

Since announcing the new service in May this year, the airline has been working to strengthen additional connectivity choices for guests arriving in Manchester, who can now connect onwards to North America and Europe or even within the UK, via flights with Jet Airways’ partner carriers including Virgin Atlantic, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France and other interline partners. Jet Airways’ guests and those of certain partner carriers will also be able to enjoy mutual earn and burn of miles on each other frequent flyer programmes as per agreement between the respective airlines.

Conversely, guests flying via Mumbai will be able to access Jet Airways’ network of 45 destinations within India. Similarly, quick connections to beyond points on Jet Airways' international network such as Bangkok, Colombo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dhaka and Kathmandu, will now be available. Some of the domestic destinations to which the new service will seamlessly connect to from Mumbai include Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhuj, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Nagpur, Raipur, Rajkot, Udaipur, and Vadodara.

Jet Airways' flight 9W 130 will depart from Mumbai at 0230 hrs and arrive in Manchester's Terminal 2 at 0755 hrs (Local time). The return flight, 9W 129 will depart from Manchester at 0930 hrs (Local time) and arrive in Mumbai's Terminal 2 at 0040 hrs.

Marnix Fruitema, Executive Vice President - Commercial, Jet Airways said, “Our new 5 days-a-week non-stop service brings Manchester into our global network, expanding our footprint as well as the choice of connectivity to and from the United Kingdom for our guests. The new service will enable Jet Airways to offer over 8,500 seats every week, making it increasingly convenient for business guests, leisure travelers as well as students, to travel between India and the UK, strengthening commerce as well as tourism ties between the two countries. Guests can also avail the advantages of various Jet Airways’ programmes such as eduJetter and JetEscapes to make their journeys more enriching.”

Manchester – the fastest growing UK city outside of London is also Europe's second largest digital hub, a hotbed of arts and culture, and home to world-class universities and research centres. Its accolades include being named the UK’s Greatest Sporting City [ESPN]; number one European city for Business Friendliness [fDi Magazine]; and a top 10 global destination for foreign direct investment [IBM].

The city lies at the heart of the North of England and the area is home to leading companies from a range of industries including Advanced Materials, Aerospace, Automotive, Chemical, Financial, IT, Media, Pharmaceutical and Retail. Several of the Fortune 500 top twenty firms have significant sites in the region, and major Indian owned businesses are also represented including over 30 Indian companies in Greater Manchester and over 100 in the UK’s North West.

The new service between Mumbai and Manchester is expected to be of special significance to business & leisure travelers, as also for a significant diaspora of people, including a growing Indian community residing in and around Manchester. The fast-expanding business and industrial hub also has one of the largest student communities in Europe, besides being extremely well connected to other major cities such as Liverpool, Leeds, Lake District and Sheffield, all within close proximity to Manchester.

Sheona Southern, Managing Director of Marketing Manchester said “Known throughout the world as the birthplace of the industrial revolution, Manchester has a proud history in science, politics, music, arts and sport. Today the city combines this heritage with a progressive vision to be a globally minded, open and collaborative world city.

“Thanks to Jet Airways, now is a better time than ever for the Indian market to discover Manchester and the North of England’s strengths as a culturally rich visitor destination, growing investment hub and diverse academic network.”

The route is also supported by the Manchester-India Partnership, which brings together businesses, universities and public sector organisations across the two markets.

Speaking of  the new route back in May, Andrew Cowan – Chair of the Manchester India Partnership & CEO of Manchester Airport said “Securing a direct service to one of India’s major cities is the product of a lot of hard work over a long period of time to forge closer ties between Manchester and this globally significant economy. We have worked, along with a range of partners, to create a compelling case for why our city – and the wider North – is a great place to visit, invest in and do business with.

“I am delighted Jet Airways have recognised this by launching what I’m sure will be a hugely popular service, not least for the 500,000 people of Indian origin living across the North. Direct connectivity to the world’s most important markets is key to creating a prosperous and internationally competitive Northern economy, and a balanced and outward facing UK.”

Jet Airways' A330-200 aircraft with 254 seats including 18 in Première will operate on the new sector. The A330 is a world-class product providing the luxury of spacious seating in quiet cabins, where guests can experience Jet Airways' highly acclaimed in-flight service characterised by fine dining, together with a choice of their preferred meal as part of the 'Dine Anytime' concept. Guests can also enjoy endless hours of the airline’s carefully curated audio-video programming comprising favourite Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters, popular TV shows and TV Shorts, business news and audio compilations with the airline’s award-winning Inflight Entertainment system – JetScreen.

Jet Airways has also introduced inaugural JetEscapes Holiday packages from Mumbai to Manchester starting at INR 57, 350/- wherein guests will be able to avail return air travel, airport transfers, hotel accommodation with breakfast, sightseeing, travel insurance (ex- India) and assured JPMiles on every booking.

The new service will complement the carrier's existing thrice daily, non-stop services between Mumbai – London Heathrow, and a daily service between Delhi – London Heathrow. The launch of the new service comes one year after the airline launched 3 new international services last year on 29th October, 2018 to Amsterdam, Paris and London from Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai respectively.