It's 5:25 am. Am at Surat station. Saw Jamnagar-Mumbai train arriving on another platform. As an aviation nerd, was curious about how well our Gujarat towns are connected. So, had to dig this rabbit hole:

TIL there are 3 direct flights from Jamnagar to Mumbai. And no direct flights to any major city outside Gujarat. Am assuming Reliance + other big industries with corporate travel fuelling solid demand. Don't think leisure would be that big. (happy to be proven wrong) Also because the nearest (another) major city from Jamnagar is Rajkot. Now, Rajkot-Jamnagar are ~100 km (2 hours, same as Bangalore airport travel). That makes it even more awesome. Guess how many on Rajkot-Mumbai route? 6. Yes, 6, which is pretty decent on its own. Jamnagar on its own having such solid demand..

Since am from Surat, had to see the flight scene from the diamond/textiles hub. Surat-Blr used to have 3 flights earlier. Now it has only 2. Hyderabad daily one. Chennai is 4x every week. None to Kerala. The major route is Surat-Delhi with 5 flights. So, from Surat to South of India or Delhi, there are fewer flights than Rajkot to Mumbai.

Rajkot is pretty badass when it comes to manufacturing. I always felt Gujarat missed the IT wave. But as AI gets more powerful, and the focus shifts back to manufacturing and trading, won't be too surprised to see these non-tech cities getting more flights. More flights and more limelight.

I started researching when my train left Surat. Posting this note as the sun rises and my train crosses Narmada river and reaches Bharuch. Near to Dahej, a major SEZ + deep water cargo port. The previous station was Ankleshwar, a chemical manufacturing hub.

Oh yeah, I'm not leaving a chance to hype all them up. Onwards. Upwards. Metaphorically. Literally. 🚀