Disinvestment-bound Air India's regional arm Alliance Air on Wednesday said it will operate daily direct air services to the newly-constructed Sindhudurg Airport from Mumbai, starting October 9. The move will make Alliance the first domestic carrier to launch operations to the greenfield airport in the Konkan region, which received the aerodrome licence for commencing commercial operations from aviation safety regulator DGCA last week.

"Alliance Air will commence daily direct flight operations from Mumbai to Sindhudurg and back effective October 9. These services will operate under the regional connectivity scheme of the Central Government," the airline said in a statement. Alliance Air will deploy its 70-seater ATR 72-600 aircraft to connect these cities, it stated.