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Jamshedpur, July 7: A quick visit to Calcutta will soon be less of a headache for businessmen, industrialists and corporate executives.
The frequency of chartered flights offered by DTDS Travel and Tour Planner Private Limited between the steel city and Calcutta is set to increase, along with a mild slash in fares from July 16.
The Bangalore-based service provider, who along with Spirit Air has been providing air connectivity between Jamshedpur and Calcutta through chartered flights from January, will spread its wings to target officials of mining companies in Saranda as well.
Shyamal Chakraborty, sales manager of DTDS Travel and Tour Planner, Calcutta, said senior officials of the company in Bangalore had conveyed to them the decision to increase the frequency of its existing flights on weekdays from Jamshedpur and Calcutta.
As against two (morning and afternoon), DTDS will now run three flights from Monday to Friday between the two cities, starting on July 16.
The schedule of two flights on Saturdays will remain unchanged.
There are no flights on Sundays.
“We are also going to introduce air connectivity from mineral-rich Saranda with a single flight from Noamundi (using the airbase of Tata Steel) in West Singhbhum (some 90km from Jamshedpur) to Calcutta on Fridays. The flight will be from Jamshedpur to Calcutta via Noamundi,” said Chakraborty.
A journey on the existing flight from Jamshedpur to Calcutta takes one hour. The flight duration will go up by another hour via Noamundi from Jamshedpur to Calcutta.
Speaking to The Telegraph from Bangalore, executive sales of DTDS Travel and Tour Planner Roopak Rao said the decision was taken because of the leap in passenger footfall by 70 per cent in the last three months.
“We had promised to increase the flight frequency if the volume of passengers increases and we are fulfiling our promise. Initially, three seats will be reserved for Noamundi in the Jamshedpur-Calcutta flight. However, if the number of passengers increases further, we may increase the seats and also the frequency of flights in the Noamundi sector,” said Rao.
The fare for the morning service from Jamshedpur to Calcutta is Rs 4,262 per seat, while that of the afternoon flight is Rs 4,917.
The nine-seat Cessna flights are operational from Monday to Saturday.
The introduction of a flight in the morning will come with a cut in the fare. A journey will cost Rs 3,962. The flight will be in service from Monday to Friday.
“This fare is an introductory offer that will continue till the management takes any further decision,” Rao added.
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