Monday, 09 August 2021 | Rajesh Kumar | New Delhi
From pizzas to free air travel, rewards are raining on the Indian athletes who won medals for the country at the Tokyo Olympics. As a token of appreciation, Go First, previously known as GoAir, on Sunday announced free travel for all six Indian athletes and the men’s hockey team who won medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Bengaluru-based regional carrier Star Air, which connects 13 cities in India, offered the medal winners a lifetime of free travel. IndiGo airlines had announced on Saturday that it would offer unlimited free air travel to javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won the only Gold medal for India, for one year.
This year is being seen as India’s best showing at the Olympics yet, with athletes finishing the campaign with one gold, two silvers, and four bronze medals for the country.
“A token of appreciation for those who brought us glory at #Olympics2021. We are happy to offer free travel on our network for 5 years to all medal winners,” Go First said in a tweet.
The airlines also tagged the Twitter handles of the Indian athletes who won medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “The seven Olympics medallists Mirabai Chanu (weight-lifting), PV Sindhu (badminton), Lovlina Borgohain (boxing), the men’s hockey team, Ravi Kumar Dahiya (wrestling), Bajrang Punia (wrestling) and gold medallist Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw) will be provided free air travel for any Go First sectors for the next five years,” Go First noted.
On the other hand, Star Air said it is offering a lifetime of free air travel for the Tokyo 2020 medal winners. “Star Air congratulates all the Indian Olympic Champions of Tokyo 2020,” a tweet posted from the airlines’ Twitter handle read.
The post included a graphic, showing ‘Free Air Tickets’ for Indian medalists.
Star Air is an Indian commuter airline based at Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore, Karnataka. It started operations in January 2019, offering flights within Karnataka state as well as to neighboring Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan as part of the Central Government’s UDAN scheme.
Budget carrier IndiGo has announced that it will offer unlimited free travel to ‘Gold Medallist’ Neeraj Chopra for a period of one year. The offer is applicable from August 8, 2021, till August 7, 2022.
In a statement, Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), IndiGo said, “Neeraj we were all overjoyed to hear about your remarkable achievement. You have made the country proud, and I know all IndiGo employees would be truly honoured to welcome you onboard one of our flights.”
“With all humility, we would like to offer you free flights on IndiGo for a year. You have shown us what hard work, resilience and passion can achieve and I am sure you will be a torchbearer for future Indian athletes. Well done, Neeraj”, he said.
