Bengal lifts partial ban on direct flights from Delhi

KOLKATA: The four-day-a-week ban on direct flights from Delhi was lifted on Monday after five months with the state allowing the Delhi-Kolkata sector flights with immediate effect. The decision was greeted with enthusiasm by frequent flyers and the travel trade industry, with the latter requesting the state to reconsider the curbs on flights from five other cities as well.
Bengal had banned flights from six cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Nagpur — from July 6 to shield the state from Covid infection. The ban was partially withdrawn from September 1 when flights from these cities were allowed three days a week.
Though Covid cases in these cities declined, the government did not respond to the pleas by the industry to restore the flights till Monday. Now, the restored flight operations will ease the pressure on travel between the two cities and also possibly rationalize fares on the sector. While the fare on direct flights from Delhi to Kolkata is Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000 at present, the travel trade industry expects it to reduce to Rs 5,000-6,000 as passenger load gets distributed throughout the week.