37m Passengers, Direct Flights To London: Centre’s Plan For Kolkata Airport

| Updated: 20 September, 2022 8:06 pm IST

Central government wants to increase the passenger traffic at Kolkata airport from 26 million to 37 million annually, Union Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told the Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation that went to meet him on Tuesday.

The four-member parliamentary delegation consisted of Rajya Sabha MPs Sukhendushekar Roy and Derek O’Brien, Lok Sabha MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Saugata Roy.

Apart from increasing the traffic, the Centre has also assured to fulfil the long-standing demand of the Bengal government for a direct flight between Kolkata and London.

The delegation said that aviation minister Scindia expressed his interest in the proposal, stating that he also wants a direct flight service between Kolkata and London. Interestingly, there was a direct flight between both cities till 2012.

While there are no airlines that fly directly from Kolkata to London at present, the Kolkata-London flight service was operational till the corona ravaged the world. However, the flight was via Delhi.

On the topic of the development of Andal airport, the central government also informed the delegation that it would not be able to pay for Kazi Nazrul Islam at Andal “since the airport does not belong to the government of India”.

“The minister said that the Centre can help with any clearance that the state government needs for the Andal airport, but funds cannot be allotted since it is a private airport,” the delegation said.

Speaking about a Kolkata-Coochbehar flight, the delegation said, “The minister assured the delegation that a Kolkata-Coochbehar flight would be introduced this winter. It will be a 19-seater aircraft under the Udaan scheme for regional connectivity.”

Speaking to the media, after the meeting, Bandyopadhyay said, “The contents of the discussion with the Union Minister will be informed to the Chief minister (Mamata Banerjee).” “It was a very important and good meeting. There was no politics,” Roy added. The meeting with the Union Minister lasted for 45 minutes.