Flights from Delhi & Mumbai only twice a week from Jan 5

KOLKATA: In the wake of rising Omicron cases in the country, the state government on Sunday stated that flights from Delhi and Mumbai—where the cases of this highly transmissible variant more—would be allowed to operate in the state only twice a week on Mondays and Fridays from January 5. According to sources, the airlines operating flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Kolkata and elsewhere in the state had been informed about the new directive.

The new directive was announced by the state's Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi. Earlier, the state government had written to the Centre, informing the latter about its decision to suspend the direct flight between Kolkata and London—which had been operating onec-a-week—considering the surge in Omicron cases in the United Kingdom. After Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee chaired a high-level meeting with top officials and experts, the decision to suspend flights between London and Kolkata was taken. The last flight from London's Heathrow airport to Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport had landed on Sunday. Meanwhile, bringing a sigh of relief to passengers flying to London from Kolkata, Air India had announced that it would continue its one-way service (from Kolkata to London) on January 9 and subsequent Sundays. Following the state government directive, Air India has suspended the service of AI 164 (which used to operate from London to Kolkata on Sundays). According to sources, the airlines decided to continue the service of AI 163 (which operates from Kolkata to London) on Sundays.