Kolkata: Air India has announced to withdraw its flight on
Kolkara-Durgapur-Delhi route from June 17. Six months after the inauguration of
the Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport (KNIA) at Andal in Durgapur, AI aid that they are
leaving due to ‘operational reasons.’
“Air India is set to withdraw its flight on Kolkata-
Durgapur-Delhi sector, after a little over six months of its inauguration, from
June 17 due to operational reasons,” an AI spokesperson said at Kolkata to EXIN
Times’ correspondent.
Air India was operating a thrice-a-week service at Andal
airport with the 122-seater Airbus 319 aircraft. The airbus was operating on
the route on every Monday. Wednesday and Friday from December 21, 2015. Reports
are that though Air India has not disclosed the exact reason behind quitting,
but few of the insiders said that financial non-viability has forced the
airlines company to withdraw their services from the South-Bengal city. “Despite
assurance to provide viability gap funding (VGF) to the airline, Bengal
Aerotropolis Projects Limited (BAPL) failed to maintain its promise,” said an
Air India Andal personnel requesting anonymity.
However, BAPL-cheifPartha Ghosh has said that it’s a
temporary phase and tht AI will resume their service within a week or so.
Meanwhile, the airlines has termed that they cannot offer any service to the
passengers after Wednesday. Passengers holding tickets for journey after
Wednesday will receive full refunds soon.
Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport was inaugurated on December
7, last year by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The airport
connected the long-awaited Kolkata-Durgapur-New Delhi route, linking the
industrial city with the national capital.
No comments:
Post a Comment