Flurry of foreign flights to Calcutta

Calcutta: The airport is a shame and the economy is in a shambles, but Calcutta may yet go places.
A 30 per cent surge in flier traffic and a new regime’s promise to reverse a history of stunted industrial growth have put the city back on the radar of international and domestic airlines that were wary of a touchdown in erstwhile Left territory.
Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines is set to start operations on July 12 and SilkAir of Singapore will take off from the city for the first time on August 1. Doha-based Qatar Airways has announced daily flights to Doha from July 28.
GoAir, promoted by the Wadia family that owns Bombay Dyeing, is conducting a survey to find out the feasibility of rolling out its services in the city.
Jet Airways and IndiGo, which already have bases in the city, are planning to consolidate their presence by creating hubs for international operations to Southeast Asia and the Gulf.
Top officials of SilkAir, a wing of Singapore Airlines, met Mamata Banerjee at Writers’ Buildings on Thursday after announcing the launch of operations in the city.
“Thank you very much, chief minister. We are delighted to begin our flights (from Calcutta),” Marvin Tan, the chief executive of SilkAir, told Mamata during a 15-minute meeting from 3pm. “There is potential for growth in business, which will encourage growth in air traffic as well,” he said.
For Mamata, the slew of new air connections is the best start she could have hoped for after sending out signals to all and sundry about her government’s commitment to industry.
10/06/11 The Telegraph/Sanjay Mandal

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Categories: Airports Jun 2011, Foreign Jun 2011