Kolkata-Dhaka flights to resume from October 28

KOLKATA: Flight operations between Dhaka and Kolkata are set to commence, following the air travel bubble agreement between

Bangladesh

and India. This has brought cheer to businesses in and around

New Market

and Sudder Street that have been out of business since the lockdown.


"Biman Bangladesh will resume operations from October 28. We expect other airlines that operated flights between the two countries to also commence operations around that date," said Kolkata airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee.

US Bangla Airlines, too, plans to start operations on October 28 while IndiGo will do so on November 3. Before lockdown, Biman Bangladesh had twice-daily operations while US Bangla Air and Regent Air operated daily flights. Indian carriers IndiGo,

SpiceJet

and Air India had daily operations.

The air travel bubble is valid till January 31, 2021. The Bengal government is yet to announce if mandatory RT-PCR tests will be required for arriving passengers.

News of the restart of flights sparked excitement among businesses located between New Market and Park Street. Bangladeshis account for over 50% sales at New Market, 70% business in hotels, guesthouses and foreign currency exchanges located on Sudder Street, Marquis Street, Free School Street, Royd Street and

Rafi Ahmed Kidwai

Road, and 80% of the transport business in the area.

Travel Agents' Federation of India chairman (east) Anil Punjabi had written to state tourism minister Indranil Sen on October 14, highlighting the plight of businesses in central Kolkata that were dependant on Bangladeshi customers. Calcutta Hotels, Guest Houses & Restaurants Owners' Association secretary Rajesh Sethi had also approached Sen with the same request.

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