Guess who among the Indians are filling the most seats on the longest commercial flight in the world?

It might surprise many, but Calcuttans comprise the majority among Indians on the 16,603-km flight from Singapore to New York.

On June 28, Singapore Airlines started the flight in its most ambitious move yet. ?Attracting Indians travellers was very much a part of our plan then. But Calcutta has been a pleasant surprise and has emerged a runaway winner so far in terms of bookings from the country,? said Bharath Mahadevan, manager (eastern India), Singapore Airlines.

Of the seven points from India ? Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Amritsar ? the city contributes 40 per cent of the bookings on the flight. The other six points together contribute the rest 60 per cent.

?The figures have been an eye-opener for us. There is high-quality traffic flow from Calcutta. Contrary to the general perception, a sizable portion of the traffic on the business class is from Calcutta,? said Mahadevan.

Pleased with the response from Calcutta, the premier airline is all set to take up charity projects in the city.

Come Wednesday, the airline will donate clothes to the inmates of the Child Care Home orphanage in Salt Lake.

?We believe in philanthropic activities and want to be popular among the masses. The work at the orphanage is one of our charity projects,? said Mahadevan.

Mahadevan and his colleagues will be back at the home on December 24, this time, not just with gifts. They will take 12 children from the home to the airport for a guided tour of an aircraft.

?The children will actually get to enter the aircraft and interact with the crew,? an airline official said.

Also on the cards are attractive packages for Indian tourists to Malaysia.

An airline official insisted that the introduction of the packages has nothing to do with the fact that Malaysian Airlines is scheduled to soon start operations from the city.

He said that with the city emerging as a major centre for flight bookings, the airline was out to woo Calcuttans. ?According to our in-house survey, people prefer us to our competitors because of the comfort level on long flights,? added the official.