Friday, September 25, 2015

CM wants London flight back on radar

Kolkata:  Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday urged civil aviation minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapati Raju to facilitate direct connectivity between Kolkata and Europe. At present, passengers from Kolkata have to fly to Europe either via Delhi or Mumbai, or via the Gulf cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

Impressing upon Raju the need to ask national carrier Air India to operate a flight between Kolkata and London or any other European city, Mamata pointed out that the airline had withdrawn services some years ago despite good traffic.

Following lack of response from major European carriers like British Airways (BA) and Lufthansa, whom Kolkata airport director A K Sharma had contacted last month, Mamata said the national carrier was the only hope till bilateral issues were resolved to facilitate the entry of Turkish Airlines. Turkish Airlines is keen on a flight between Kolkata and Istanbul, but is unable to operate it as it does not have permission from Indian authorities.
25/09/15 Times of India
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