A Shenzhen vista to Hong Kong will open for the Calcutta traveller this Mahalaya.

Chinese carrier Hainan is debuting in India with a flight from the city to Shenzhen, a bustling south China metropolis about 40km north of Hong Kong, on September 27. Coaches will be waiting at the airport to ferry those bound for Hong Kong in less than an hour.

“We are starting off with twice-a-week operations from Shenzhen to Calcutta and back. Hong Kong is about a 45-minute drive from Shenzhen airport,” Li Li, the general manager of Hainan Airlines in Calcutta, told Metro on Thursday.

The airline will operate the to-and-fro flight on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The flight will arrive at the city airport from Shenzhen at 4.45pm and take off for the return journey at 6pm. It is scheduled to land at Shenzhen at 11.55pm local time.

Hainan is offering an introductory economy class return fare of Rs 17,000, inclusive of taxes.

As Calcutta doesn’t have a direct flight to Hong Kong, travellers going there for a holiday or on business have so far had to fly to Delhi, Singapore or Bangkok to take a connecting flight.

The flight to Shenzhen will take three-and-a-half hours. Add half an hour for formalities and 45 minutes for the bus ride and a traveller will still reach Hong Kong in less than the time it takes to fly via Delhi.

The flying time from Calcutta to Hong Kong through Bangkok and Singapore is approximately four-and-a-half hours, plus a waiting period of two-and-a-half to three hours for the connecting flights.

Hong Kong’s myriad charms, including theme parks like Disneyland and Ocean Park, make it a popular holiday destination. Traders from Calcutta frequent Hong Kong mainly to bring electronic goods.

“The new flight will not only connect the city to Hong Kong but also Macau, another popular destination that is just 15 minutes by ferry from Hong Kong. We expect the combination of three cities connected by one flight to be a hot deal,” said Anil Punjabi, the chairman (east) of the Travel Agents’ Federation of India.

According to him, around 20,000 fliers from Calcutta visit Hong Kong every year and the number is expected to rise once the Shenzhen flight is introduced.

Airline officials said they planned to increase the number of flights as part of the winter schedule, starting November. “We will be analysing the passenger load in October. If it is satisfactory, we will add a third flight on Thursdays,” Li said.

Hainan will be the second Chinese airline to operate out of Calcutta after China Eastern Airlines, which connects the city to Kunming.