Gulf airlines stall Calcutta take-off

Calcutta: Two Gulf-based airlines that had thought of starting direct flights from the city sometime soon have shelved their plans, a day after British Airways said it was scrapping its Calcutta-London flight from March.
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar Airways had both acquired rights to fly to and from Calcutta.
Today, a senior Etihad official said from Delhi: “There are no plans now to launch flights in the Calcutta-Abu Dhabi sector.”
Etihad had announced it would start Calcutta-Abu Dhabi direct flights but had not fixed the weekly frequency.
Qatar Airways had plans to start a Doha-Calcutta flight but didn’t sound too keen any more. “It does not seem to be happening now,” an airline official said.
Sources have cited global recession and increase in air turbine fuel surcharge as reasons that have compelled airlines to go for route rationalisation that has hit Calcutta the most.
British Airways, which flies Calcutta-London three times a week, will snap the direct link from March 28, 2009. Officials said the route was not making a profitable contribution to the airline.
In October, Air India had stopped services on this route. German airline Lufthansa has cut its weekly flight frequency to the city from five to three from this winter.
Aviation industry sources said Calcutta was becoming a “non-viable” sector for international airline operators because of shrinking passenger load. Although 2007 saw 20 per cent more international passengers over the previous year, the rate slumped to 5 per cent this year.
09/11/08 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Nov 2008, Foreign Nov 2008