Charter flight ops revive hope for students, professionals

Kolkata: The process of initiation of international charter flight movements to and from Kolkata has given a fresh lease of hope for a number of professionals, businessmen and students in the city as well as those stuck abroad looking for ways to return home.
TOI had reported that IndiGo had already planned three charter flights from the Gulf to the city after the Bengal government gave its nod to charter flight operations to Kolkata on Friday. The state had halted international repatriation flights from different parts of the globe to the city on July 1 citing rising Covid cases.
Stuck in Muscat, civil engineer Ritayan Biswas said he has been trying to come back to the city for the last several months since he lost his job at a government undertaking firm in Oman. “The Oman government has taken a policy to nationalise all their positions and have relieved all foreigners from the current positions. Hence, I am now jobless and there is no work for me here. I have been trying to move back to Kolkata and start my career afresh but with no home-bound flights, we are stuck here. Now that the Bengal government has allowed charter flights to land, I have applied for three tickets on a charter flight planned by the Bengali community living here. The flight is set to leave on August 18,” said Biswas, who had been working at Oman for 14 years.