Kolkata: The greenfield private airport at Andal is planning to operate the first test flight with a fixed-wing aircraft on January 7.
Though the airport is unlikely to get an operators' license till next March, the test flight with a 20-seater plane will serve as a symbolic takeoff that Mamata Banerjee is keen to showcase at Biswa Bangla, the investor meet scheduled in Kolkata around that time.
"We have applied for license to operate Airbus A320 or Boeing B737-800 (category 4C aircraft). The formalities may take a few months though the airport will be completely ready for operation by December. We are therefore looking at the possibility of operating a non-scheduled test flight with 18-20-seat aircraft (category 2C) subject to approval from the directorate general of civil aviation," said Partha Ghosh, managing director of Bengal Aerotropolis Pvt Ltd ( BAPL), which is developing the Andal airport.
16/10/14 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India
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Though the airport is unlikely to get an operators' license till next March, the test flight with a 20-seater plane will serve as a symbolic takeoff that Mamata Banerjee is keen to showcase at Biswa Bangla, the investor meet scheduled in Kolkata around that time.
"We have applied for license to operate Airbus A320 or Boeing B737-800 (category 4C aircraft). The formalities may take a few months though the airport will be completely ready for operation by December. We are therefore looking at the possibility of operating a non-scheduled test flight with 18-20-seat aircraft (category 2C) subject to approval from the directorate general of civil aviation," said Partha Ghosh, managing director of Bengal Aerotropolis Pvt Ltd ( BAPL), which is developing the Andal airport.
16/10/14 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India
