COOCH BEHAR AIRPORT

Cooch Behar waits for regular flights

Regular air service between Cooch Behar and Kolkata is going to start
from 5 September. This news ushered a fresh shower of hopes for
development of this region. The people from different sections of
society welcomed the news.
The thoroughly renovated and upgraded Cooch Behar Airport is waiting
to accept regular commercial flights after many years. Airport
Authority of India (AAI) sources said the airport is now ready for
flight operations.
The North East Shuttle Private Limited is to press 18-seater
Dornier-228 aircraft to fly between Cooch Behar and Kolkata. The
flight will be of five days a week except Wednesday and Sunday. The
fair of a single journey is Rs 5,000.
It may be recalled here that on 19 July an aircraft of the North East
Shuttle took off from Cooch Behar Airport and left for Kolkata en
route Saidpur of Bangladesh initiating regular flights. The aircraft
came from Dimapur of Assam and landed at Cooch Behar Airport amid
cheers from curious visitors and guests.
After failure of the Deccan Charters, another flight operator concern,
the North East Shuttle came up to operate air operations between Cooch
Behar and Kolkata. They submitted their proposal to the AAI to operate
air service using the recently renovated Cooch Behar airport. AAI
sources said NES has small aircrafts and these planes ply in areas
like Guwahati, Mizoram, Tripura and Shillong. At Cooch Behar Airport
such type of planes may land safely, AAI officials said.
It may be mentioned here that 22 February of this year was scheduled
for resuming of air service from Cooch Behar Airport. But at the last
moment the Deccan Charters failed to turn up, as they had to send
their stipulated aircraft for servicing to South Africa from where
they brought it.
Secretary of Cooch Behar District Merchants Chamber of Commerce, Mr
Rajendra Baid welcomed the revival of the long awaited Cooch
Behar-Kolkata air service and hoped that it will be helpful to improve
the tourism, commerce and industry sectors of the region. He also
hoped that the concerned authorities would be able to maintain regular
flight operations from now on. Flight operators like the Deccan
Charters and others may come up again if the NES flights prove viable,
he said. After a few months there will be need to fly larger aircrafts
in this route as the demand from the passengers would rose, he hoped.
Mr Ranajit Deb of North East Development Academy, Mr Arup Jyoti
Majumdar of Cooch Behar Heritage Society and Mr Aniruddha Palit of
Concern for Cooch Behar also expressed their pleasure.