Domestic Flights for Kolkata Airport's New Terminal for the End of the Year

Friday, 1st June 2012 at 03:19am

Almost three weeks after the announcement made by Mamata Banerjee on the Puja date for the commencement of operations at the new integrated terminal, tell-tale signs suggest that only a part of it will be ready by October. It was learned that the domestic airlines may not be ready to use the new terminal towards the year-end.

When the improvement began in 2008, the airport reportedly had missed five deadlines already. Initially, the terminals were projected to be completed before operations are scheduled to commence on July 2011. However, after the initial deadline, the project was still unfinished until after four more extensions, the last being May 2012. The delay was blamed primarily on several factors that beset the project which include poor work ethics among workers and the absence of coordination among the concerned parties.

Some observers say that full-fledged operations are not yet possible as of the current state of the project, since there are portions of the terminal that still needs some finishing touches, especially in the domestic wing. The international wing of the terminal, however, can be operational by October. It is projected that the domestic terminal can begin operation only after three months.

The original plan was to kick-off with domestic flights first before international flights could begin. However, based on the current state of development of the project, the reverse is seen to happen. Many international carriers who are eager to fly to Kolkata are also adding pressure to airport authorities stating that they will only fly to Kolkata until the new terminal is finished.

They argued that it is quite impractical for them to shift operations from one terminal to another in such a short span of time as it will incur financial burden to them and the inconvenience of both the airline's staff and travelers alike. Dragonair, for example, is eager to start its planned 4-times-a-week service between Kolkata and Hongkong and still awaiting confirmation from airport officials for the terminal's final date to commence operations.

According to some sources, the transition period will start by August or September with the first international airline moving to the new facility. Aside from the office spaces for domestic airlines needing furnishings, everything else is already in place, including check-in and immigration counters.

The airport services manager of Cathay Pacific, Ashok K. Batra, was satisfied with what he saw during his walk-about tour of the new facility.

Tom Wright, Cathay Pacific's general manager for South Asia and MENA, was really impressed by the ultra-modern design of the new terminal. He hoped though that the new airport will offer the most efficient facilities and services to its users, most especially, the air travelers.

By: Pete Lee.