Bhattacharya speaks at the seminar. (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, June 28: The CII’s north Bengal zonal council wants Bagdogra airport to be renamed Siliguri airport or after some eminent personality.

“Even though Bagdogra is internationally known, Siliguri is not on the air map of the country in a true sense. Many people are still unaware that Bagdogra caters for the town, which is the gateway to the Northeast. We want the airport to be renamed Siliguri airport or named after prominent personalities like it is in Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai,” Ramgopal Jajodia, the vice-chairman of the council, said at a seminar on Economic Scenario – Adversity to Challenges on Friday.

According to him, the tickets printed by airlines that run flights to Bagdogra also display the same location and not Siliguri. “Unlike Calcutta, where tickets display the metro’s name and not Dumdum, we want the civil aviation ministry to pass on instructions to the airliners so that they print the origin and terminus as Siliguri and not Bagdogra. This alteration will help increase the popularity of Siliguri, as international flights have started operating from here,” Jajodia said.

From June 18, the Drukair of Bhutan have been operating flights between Paro and Bangkok via Bagdogra four days a week. Yesterday, Bagdogra came into the news once again when the right wingtip of a Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A320 hit a grass-camouflaged air force bunker near the runway while taxiing for takeoff at 3.30pm. Although all 178 passengers and six crew members of the Bagdogra-Delhi flight were safe, “the aircraft suffered structural damage and the bunker wall cracked,” airport officials said. Following the incident, aircraft movement was stalled at the airport for more than an hour.

The CII members urged urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya, who was at the seminar, to take up the matter with the Centre. “We request you to take up the renaming or the change in ticket display with appropriate quarters and ensure its early implementation,” one of them said.

Sources in the CII said the trade body would soon write to civil aviation minister Praful Patel and Bhattacharya on this matter.

The Bengal minister, who had spoken earlier at the seminar, requested realtors of the region not to resort to abnormal profit-making.

“One of the emerging sectors in the region is real estate, which is generating employment as well as helping economic growth. I like to request the realtors to maintain limits and not to resort to abnormal profit-making. This trend was noticed in the US before the economic meltdown and if similar trends are witnessed here, it will affect the economic growth. Maintaining a standard rate of profit will help sustainable development of the sector,” he said.