West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during her interaction with business leaders in London on Tuesday, announced subsidies and tax benefits on fuel to airline companies who will start operating flights between Kolkata and the British capital.
“Earlier it [Kolkata-London direct flight] was there, but it was withdrawn before we came to power—I don’t know what’s the cause,” she said at the interactive session on 'Opportunities in West Bengal', organised in collaboration with the Indian High Commission in United Kingdom and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
After a gap of almost 13 years, a direct flight between Kolkata and London was started by Air India in September 2020. However, after 18 months, the weekly service was discontinued, reportedly due to the Tata Group’s decision to ground several aircraft for refurbishment. The final flight to London departed from Kolkata on March 20, 2022.
Urging the airlines companies to restart the direct flights between the two cities, that share historical bond which goes back centuries, she mentioned her government’s fuel concessions to companies for operating flights from the airports in Kolkata, Bagdogra and Andal.
“Whoever comes first [to start direct flight operations between Kolkata and London], we will give them first advantage. [We will give them] fuel tax advantage,” the chief minister added. “No seat will remain vacant. Your businesses will go high up.”
She mentioned that due to the 18-hour journey, which should generally take eight hours, people commuting daily between Kolkata and London have to struggle unnecessarily. “You see how we are fighting to just come over,” she said highlighting that direct transport system would help in strengthening the historic tie between Kolkata and London.
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West Bengal has been actively seeking to restore direct flight services between Kolkata and London for a long time now. Last year, Chandrima Bhattacharya, the minister of state for finance, passed a resolution in the assembly about the same.
During the inauguration of this year's Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), West Bengal's flagship event to present the state as a business destination, in February this year CM Banerjee said that she had also requested Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to restart Air India operations between Kolkata and London.
Meanwhile, the chief minister urged British companies from all sectors to come and invest in West Bengal, saying they can help the state in green technologies and smart infrastructure. She said that Kolkata has become the hub for artificial intelligence (AI) and data research centres.