The centenary celebrations of Calcutta airport were marked by the pressing need for more international flights.
A veteran member of Parliament who represents the constituency that includes the airport was among the speakers at the celebrations of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Saturday.
“Please give us more international flights. When I was young, Calcutta had direct flights to London and Paris. They have since stopped,” said Saugata Roy, Trinamool MP from Dum Dum.
His appeal was directed to Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu, Union minister for civil aviation, the chief guest at the programme.
“I understand that all the airlines are private operators. But there is something called gentle persuasion. I request the young and dynamic minister to try and persuade private carriers to bring more international flights to Calcutta,” Roy said.
The Calcutta airport is now connected to around 15 international and 49 domestic destinations. The numbers are only a fraction of the airports in Delhi and Mumbai.
When it was his turn to speak, Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu, the youngest member of Narendra Modi’s cabinet, acknowledged the need for more international flights.
“I accept the challenge to bring more flights. The airport is now connected to 64 destinations. We will aim to raise the count to 100. I will use gentle persuasion with airlines,” said the Union minister, who is named after Raja Rammohun Roy, the 19th century social reformer.
On December 5, the Bengal Assembly unanimously passed a motion that called for the intervention of the central government to ensure that international and domestic airlines operate direct flights to cities in Europe and the US from Calcutta.
According to airport officials, Calcutta now has 23 international flights daily on average. Bengaluru airport has more than 25 international flights. More importantly, Bengaluru has direct connections to London, Paris, Frankfurt and San Francisco. Calcutta has the most connections to the Gulf countries and destinations in Southeast Asia. Mumbai airport handles more than 1,000 international flights every week or around 144 daily.
Saturday’s programme celebrated the history of Calcutta airport. What started as a small airstrip in the early 1,900s is now the biggest airport in eastern India that handles around 400 flights and over 50,000 passengers every day.
Officials said a US circumnavigation aircraft had landed at Calcutta airport on April 4, 1924. Later that year, a flight from Paris to Tokyo landed at the airport.
On November 13, 1924, a KLM flight landed at the Calcutta airport at night assisted by kerosene-powered gooseneck lights fixed along the edges of the runway. It was KLM’s first intercontinental test flight from Amsterdam to Batavia (now Jakarta) in Indonesia with a single-engine Fokker F-VII aircraft.
Now, planes land at the airport at night with the help of electric lights fixed along the runway edges. When visibility is very low, the airport has the Category III B Instrument Landing System to help aircraft land.
“Kolkata airport is not just a building. It is a living monument. It has been at the forefront of the history of civil aviation in India,” said Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu.
He said the new terminal (part of an expansion plan, to come up after demolishing the old domestic terminal) will lead to a substantial jump in the passenger volume.
The minister also said that the Metro Rail link to the airport, which he said was nearing completion, will be a significant progress. Roy, who is chairman of the advisory committee to the airport, also said that Metro connectivity to the airport will mark a milestone.
Murlidhar Mohol, Union minister of state for civil aviation, and senior officials of the ministry and the Airports Authority of India attended the programme. A souvenir coin, a postal cover with stamp and a coffee table book were launched. Past and present employees of the airport were felicitated.
The ministers also launched an Udan Yatri cafe, aimed at offering good food at affordable rates to passengers, and a picture exhibition.
