Budget airline SpiceJet has written to the Bengal government to remove the restrictions on the number of flights per week, which is three days at present.

The airlines in a letter to the chief secretary of the state government has urged “approving daily flight operation to Bengal (Calcutta, Bagdogra, Andal) from Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune”.

“At present, flights are permitted three days a week (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and passengers have to take a via flight/connections on other days to reach their destination in Bengal. Permission of daily flight operations from the above mentioned cities will help passengers and also reduce travel time to reach destination,” the letter said.

The airline has sought the daily flight operation at a time the ministry of civil aviation has allowed airlines to operate 100 per cent of their scheduled capacity October 18 onwards, removing a key restriction imposed when domestic flight operations resumed in May 2020 after a two-month lockdown.

However, restrictions on fare bands continue to be in place and a call on that too is likely to be taken soon.

The country’s domestic passenger volume in September rose to a robust 70.66 lakh — compared with 39.43 lakh passengers in the same month of 2020 — aided by increased vaccination rates, easing some more travel restrictions and demand bolstered by the festive season.

Moreover, the domestic air traffic reached its highest single-day level at 327, 923 on October 17.