Siliguri: AirAsia India will launch two new daily flights from
Bagdogra - one linking Calcutta in the morning and the other connecting
Delhi in the evening - from May.
"AirAsia India will launch a flight to Delhi in the evening
from May 1 and a service to Calcutta in mornings from May 11. The
flights would largely help passengers who intend to reach here from
Calcutta in the morning and reach Delhi late in the evening," said
Rakesh Sahay, the Bagdogra airport director.
The new flights were announced after the Instrumental Landing System (ILS) was commissioned at Bagdogra on March 29.
The authorities have also started bringing in additional CISF
personnel to ensure that the airport functions for 16 hours a day, that
is from 6am to 10pm.
As of now, the last flight leaves Bagdogra at 6.25pm and it is
bound for Delhi. The new flight by AirAsia India will leave Delhi at
4pm and reach Bagdogra at 6.15pm. In the return direction, it will take
off at 6.45pm and land at Delhi at 9.20pm.
The first flight from Calcutta lands at 11.45am and the first service to the Bengal capital takes off at 12.30pm.
"There was a longstanding demand to start early morning flights
between Calcutta and Bagdogra. The demand would be met with introduction
of the new flight on May 11," said Sahay.
The new flight will leave Calcutta at 9am and land at Bagdogra
at 10.20pm. It will depart Bagdogra at 10.45am and touch down in
Calcutta at 11.55am.
Following the commissioning of the ILS, the Airports Authority
of India has been communicating with airline companies for introduction
of flights in mornings and evenings.
The introduction of the new flight means people can reach
Bagdogra from Calcutta 90 minutes ahead vis-Ã -vis the current schedule.
With the new services, the number of daily flights will
increase to 26, which means, there will be 52 movements. "It will be 27
flights on days when Druk Air operates its flight connecting Paro with
Bangkok via Bagdogra," said a source.
Members of the travel trade fraternity have welcomed the announcement of the new services.
"Tourists complaint that they reach their destinations in the
hills in the evening as they can arrive at Bagdogra only in the
afternoon. While returning, they need to hurry in the morning as there
is no flight in late evening hours. We feel the introduction of the new
flights would help them," said Samrat Sanyal, a senior tour operator.
The Telegraph