Calcutta will again have air connectivity with Jamshedpur from Tuesday.

Private airline IndiaOne Air will operate a daily flight between the two cities. Wing commander Prem Garg, deputy chief executive officer of the Ahmedabad-based airline, said the flight service would be launched in Jamshedpur by Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren.

This will be the fifth attempt at air-linking the two cities by private air operators since the creation of Jharkhand.

“On the inaugural day, the nine-passenger seating capacity single-engine aircraft will start from Bhubaneshwar at 7.30am and reach (Tata Steel managed) Sonari Airport (in Jamshedpur) at 9.20am. It will leave for Calcutta at 10.15am, reaching at 11.20am. The flight will leave Calcutta for Jamshedpur at 12.10pm and reach Jamshedpur at 1.15pm. It will leave Jamshedpur at 1.55pm and reach Bhubaneshwar at 3.45pm,” said Garg.

From February 1, he said, the flight will leave Bhubaneshwar at 6.30am and reach Jamshedpur at 7.50am. It will leave Jamshedpur at 8.15am and reach Calcutta at 9.20am.

The flight will leave Calcutta at 10.10am and reach Jamshedpur at 11.15am. It will leave for Bhubaneshwar at 12.45pm and reach the Odisha capital at 2.05pm.

“The inaugural fare is Rs 1,999 for the Jamshedpur-Calcutta journey and Rs 2,999 for the Jamshedpur-Bhubaneshwar journey. Tickets can be booked online by logging on to our website www.indiaoneair. com and visiting the paxlinks,” said Garg.

Passenger flight service between Jamshedpur and Calcutta had made its debut in 2007. But the Air Deccan-run service came to an end soon after the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) imposed load restrictions because of the short runway at Sonari Aerodrome.

MDLR Kingfisher resumed connectivity in 2009, only for a few months. On August 17, 2010, Deccan Charters hired a turboprop 19-seat aircraft but the service ended in February 2011.

DTDS Travels had started a flight between Jamshedpur and Calcutta in January 2012 after getting a non-scheduled operator’s license from DGCA. But the service was discontinued as it could not become viable.

Jamshedpur is connected to Calcutta extensively by rail route and by road. To catch a flight, a Jamshedpur resident has to travel over 160km to Ranchi.

“We are using a single-engine aircraft because of the shorter air strip at Sonari Airport. We are confident of commercial viability of the route as it is being operated under the regional connectivity scheme of the central government with a provision of viability gap funding.

“So far the response has been tremendous. We are expecting good footfall on the Jamshedpur-Bhubaneshwar route with Tata Steel focusing on Kalinganagar,” said Garg.