Monday, November 30, 2015

Andal-Delhi flight from December

DURGAPUR: For residents of Durgapur, Asansol, Raniganj and Dhanbad, connectivity will take a whole new meaning with direct Airbus flights to Delhi and Kolkata.Till now, only an ATR aircraft operated between Kolkata and Andal.

The new flight, using an Airbus A319 aircraft, will make its maiden flight to Andal from Kolkata on December 7 and fly onward to Delhi. The return flight will first halt at Andal and then reach Kolkata. The flight, with a capacity of 125 passengers, will operate three times a week.

"We are on the cusp of creating aviation history . The connection to Delhi has been a long-cherished dream of residents of this industrial ner ve centre," said airport promoter Bengal Aerotropolis Project Ltd director Partha Ghosh. The flight to Delhi from Andal will take 2 hours and 15 minutes, reducing travel time by at least an hour and a half.

Rajendra Prosad Khaitan, president of South Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industries, is delighted. "We have been waiting for this flight for years. I am really glad it is finally taking off," he said. The flight will meet a longstanding need of the residents in the Asansol-Durgapur belt. Durgapur city is home to some of the largest industrial units in the state: Durgapur Steel Plant, an integrated steel plant of SAIL; Alloy Steels Plant of SAIL and CMERI, a CSIR laboratory. The half-hour connection to Kolkata will also benefit students and public and private sector employees working in the Durgapur-Asansol planning area, besides boosting the industrialization needs of the region.
30/11/15 Debajyoti Chakraborty/The Times Of India
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