Grounded for now

Calcutta, Nov. 8: Two Gulf-based airlines that had thought of starting direct flights from the city sometime soon have shelved their plans, a day after British Airways said it was scrapping its Calcutta-London flight from March.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar Airways had both acquired rights to fly to and from Calcutta.

Today, a senior Etihad official said from Delhi: “There are no plans now to launch flights in the Calcutta-Abu Dhabi sector.”

Etihad had announced it would start Calcutta-Abu Dhabi direct flights but had not fixed the weekly frequency.

Qatar Airways had plans to start a Doha-Calcutta flight but didn’t sound too keen any more. “It does not seem to be happening now,” an airline official said.

Sources have cited global recession and increase in air turbine fuel surcharge as reasons that have compelled airlines to go for route rationalisation that has hit Calcutta the most.

British Airways, which flies Calcutta-London three times a week, will snap the direct link from March 28, 2009. Officials said the route was not making a profitable contribution to the airline.

In October, Air India had stopped services on this route.

German airline Lufthansa has cut its weekly flight frequency to the city from five to three from this winter.

Aviation industry sources said Calcutta was becoming a “non-viable” sector for international airline operators because of shrinking passenger load. Although 2007 saw 20 per cent more international passengers over the previous year, the rate slumped to 5 per cent this year.

“We apprehend a negative growth in 2009 if the trend continues,” said a senior official of an international airline that has flights from the city.

A survey by the Airports Authority of India also revealed a dip in passenger traffic over the past few months.

While the number of domestic and international travellers in the first four months of 2007 grew between 20 and 25 per cent over the corresponding period the year before, the growth was 8 to 10 per cent in the same period in 2008.

“Any long-haul flight needs nearly 80 per cent passenger load to stay viable. But the load factor now is much less than that,” said an official of a European airline.

Travel officials said they were worried. “The withdrawals and deferring of launch plans are sending ominous signals to the travel industry in eastern India,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman (east), Travel Agents Federation of India. “We are appealing to British Airways to reconsider its decision.”

Wrong runway

A Singapore Airlines flight tonight entered the wrong runway while taking off.

“The flight entered the secondary runway instead of the main one,” a Calcutta airport official said. No casualty was reported.