No Vande Bharat flight to land in Kolkata this month, flyers in a fix

KOLKATA: The air bubble pact between India and the United States will see Air India operating 180 flights between India and the US this month. But none is slated for Kolkata as the state has refused per-mission for inbound flights from abroad to pre-empt further virus spread.
“Vande Bharat and other repatriation flights operated by Indian private airlines and Gulf carriers are unable to operate to Kolkata due to an NOC refusal from the state,” an official said.
Bengal had initially asked the civil aviation ministry to stop flights carrying international passengers to Kolkata from July 1 to 19. Domestic flights from cities in four high Covid-prevalence states — Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat — were suspended from July 6 to 19. While the state chief secretary wrote to the civil aviation secretary for extension of this embargo on domestic flights till July 31, it has refused to give NOC to the civil aviation ministry for repatriation flights.