Air India has increased the frequency of flights to the UK and Europe from several cities for the coming summer schedule but said nothing about a direct Calcutta-London flight, a long-standing demand from passengers from the city and the Bengal government.
On Thursday, the Tata-owned airline announced additional frequencies on several routes as part of its northern summer schedule effective March 30, 2025.
These include adding three weekly flights between Delhi and London Heathrow, increasing 21 weekly flights to 24. They will be operated by Air India’ flagship A350-900 and upgraded B787-9 aircraft.
On the Amritsar-Birmingham route, Air India will increase three weekly flights to four. The frequency will increase from three to four weekly flights between Amritsar and London Gatwick.
On the Ahmedabad-London Gatwick route, weekly flights will be increased from three to five. For the rest of Europe, Air India is increasing weekly flights from Delhi to Zurich and Vienna.
“Air India will continue to operate 12 weekly flights to London Gatwick from Amritsar, Ahmedabad and Goa,” the airline said in a statement.
However, there was no word about any direct connectivity from Calcutta to London or other European cities.
Air India did not respond to queries from The Telegraph till late on Friday.
At the Bengal Global Business Summit earlier this month, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she had a telephone conversation with Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran on the eve of the event, the first publicly known instance of the two entities touching base since she became chief minister 14 years ago.
Mamata said on February 5 that Chandrasekaran had promised to visit the city soon to discuss investment proposals, besides responding “positively” to her proposal of starting a direct flight from the city to a destination in Europe.
“I asked him (Chandrasekaran), can we get a direct flight from Calcutta to Europe? He didn’t say no…. His voice was very positive,” she had said.
However, in the summer schedule, there was no announcement from the airline. During the pandemic, Air India operated Vande Bharat flights between Calcutta and London. That was the last time the city had a flight connection with London.
Tour operators and officials of some international airlines said the number of passengers to Europe from Calcutta has increased significantly over the last few years.
An official of a Gulf-based airline said their flight from Calcutta has more than 200 passengers every day in economy class who go onward from the Gulf destination. “Out of them, the majority go to Europe and the rest to the USA. During the holiday season, there are passengers to other destinations like Africa,” said the official.
“However, there are aircraft problems for some of the leading airlines. There are issues of delivery by the manufacturers. So, when an airline gets a new aircraft it tries to put it on a route that can provide more yield. Unfortunately, there is this perception that Calcutta still does not have enough business class or high-yield passengers,” the official pointed out.
Air India also mentioned the delay in receiving retrofitted aircraft. “Retrofit of the legacy Boeing 777 fleet with new seats and entertainment systems, originally due to commence in 2025, will now commence in early 2026 due to production constraints at the selected seat supplier,” the airline said.
Anil Punjabi, national committee member of the Travel Agents Federation of India, representing the eastern region, said: “We have approximately 150 passengers from Calcutta to Europe every day, who take flights mostly via Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. So, there are enough passengers for an airline to have a direct flight to London at least thrice a week.”
“Many passengers face inconveniences during stopovers,” he added.
South City resident Aishwarya Mukhopadhyay, pursuing her PhD at Oxford University, visits home two to three times a year. Usually, she travels via Dubai or Doha.
“The layover time at Dubai or Doha is either very short or very long,” said Aishwarya, who is now in Calcutta.
“I will return to Oxford on March 2 and the layover time is nine hours. On other occasions, I missed connections because of short waiting time,” she said.
City businessman Lalit frequently goes to London. His son Vikram, pursuing PhD, visits home often. “Usually we travel through Dubai or Doha. The trip becomes longer and more expensive. At times, the waiting time can be six to eight hours,” he said.