Jamshedpur, Nov. 15: Jamshedpur airport wore a deserted look today after Kingfisher Airlines withdrew services from the steel city, leaving it without air connectivity, after operating the last flight yesterday evening.

Speaking about the decision, Prakash Mirpuri, vice-president (corporate communications) of UB Group, which owns Kingfisher Airlines, said it was taken after Tata Steel failed to explain how it would ensure safety of aircraft after the length of the runway was decreased in accordance with the recommendations of the directorate of civil aviation.

The Kingfisher Airlines decision has been met with dismay by citizens who often used the Jamshedpur-Calcutta-Jamshedpur service. Frequent fliers were forced to board the Howrah-Tata Steel Express this morning in order to reach Calcutta.

“I had a morning flight to Calcutta today but since the private airlines withdrew the service, I had to board the early morning train instead. It was disheartening when I first came to know about this from newspapers a few days ago. It was so convenient for the last two years, but now the journey to Calcutta would be time consuming again,” said Dhirendra Singh, a local businessman and a frequent flier.

Though the members of airport staff of the airlines were still working on the premises, the ticket money had been refunded to all passengers who had booked flights for today and later.

While Kingfisher Airlines has withdrawn services officially, MDLR Airlines, which started services from Jamshedpur to New Delhi, Ranchi and Chandigarh from April this year, has not operated any flights from October 6, citing aircraft maintenance as the reason.

When contacted, an official at MDLR headquarters in Gurgaon said nothing had been decided about the Jamshedpur services.

“Business will definitely be hit. We have tie-ups with companies abroad but foreign delegates will think twice about visiting this city because of poor connectivity. When people think about train journeys and the time involved, they generally back out,” said S.N. Thakur, president of Adityapur Small Industries Association (ASIA).

Not only industries, experts said placements in institutions like National Institute of Technology and XLRI School of Business and Human Resources would also suffer.

“Connectivity of the city plays an important role in placements. Companies find it easier to visit the campus if the city is connected by air,” said Prabal Sen, a senior faculty of XLRI.