Jamshedpur, Aug. 16: Industrial and trade organisations have reason to cheer. So do top officials of companies coming to the steel city for recruiting students from the premier B-school, XLRI.

Air Deccan has decided to commence commercial flight services between Jamshedpur and Calcutta from August 27, said Capt. G.R. Gopinath, the executive chairman of Deccan Aviation.

The steel city has great potential for the civil aviation industry because of the presence of a large number of corporate houses and prominent institutions like XLRI. In the absence of a flight service, traders faced innumerable problems earlier.

The inaugural flight will take off in the presence of Gopinath and Tata Steel managing director B. Muthuraman.

“The history of Jamshedpur is the history of India’s industrial growth, but ironically the city was not connected by air. We had long desired to place the hub of India’s steel and engineering industries on the aviation map. With the launch of our flight to Jamshedpur, we are confident that the city will embark on another phase of growth,” said Gopinath.

A 48-seater aircraft will be deployed on the route, for which bookings have already begun. Head of corporate communications for Air Deccan, a private airline, Vijaya Menon told The Telegraph that the tickets can be booked through Air Deccan’s website www.airdeccan.net or through its call centre — 39008888.

The tickets can also be booked through travel agents and at the airport ticketing counter, which is going to open soon.

“The aircraft will take comparatively longer time — an hour — for travelling between the two cities as it is a smaller aircraft with lesser speed and will fly at a low altitude,” said an official of Air Deccan, based in Bangalore.

The terminal building under construction at the Sonari airport for Air Deccan’s flight between Jamshedpur and Calcutta will display the glorious history of Tata Steel. Tata Steel and its aviation department officials today took this decision during an on-the-spot assessment. The officials inspected the passengers’ terminus and the ticketing area and took stock of the security measures around the airport.

Among other residents of the steel city, Suresh Sonthalia, general secretary of the Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industries, expressed happiness. Traders would no longer have to depend on the railways even in times of emergency, he said.