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India's first private greenfield airport at Andal set to start flights

The first flight between Kolkata and Durgapur is expected to take off May 18

<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-138331p1.html?cr=00&pl=edit-00">Chris Parypa Photography</a> / <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/editorial?cr=00&pl=edit-00">Shutterstock.com</a>

Probal Basak Durgapur/Kolkata
This article has been modified. Please see the clarification at the end.

Satyajit Bose, a cardiac surgeon and chairman of The Mission Hospital in Durgapur, is planning to catch an Air India flight to Kolkata on Monday, when India’s first private greenfield airport at Andal near Durgapur becomes operational. He is excited to be part of what he terms “a historic moment” for the people in this region.

“I am very happy. Finally, it has happened,” he tells Business Standard.

Bose has more than one reason to celebrate. In 2012, he had bought two acres to set up a second multi-specialty hospital in the proposed airport city, promoted by Bengal Aerotropolis Pvt Ltd (BAPL). Now, he thinks he will be able to execute his plan soon.

Experts, however, say it might take a while for the enthusiasm to spread to major private domestic airliners.

Commercial operations at the facility, named the Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport (which has a capacity to handle one million passengers a year), in which Singapore’s Changi has a 36.2 per cent stake, will begin on Monday. While Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, will operate a 42-seater ATR flight between Andal and Kolkata six days a week, non-scheduled carrier Pinnacle Air will connect Andal with Bagdogra and Cooch Behar. Alliance Air has fixed the one-way fare at Rs 2,500, with special discounts for students and the differently-abled.

“There is through check-in for Air India. Passengers can go from Durgapur to Mumbai and Delhi via Kolkata through connecting flights,” said Sunil Chander Nair, BAPL’s chief marketing officer.

Changi Airport Consultants, a subsidiary of Changi Airports International, which has been at the fore of the route planning, has zeroed in on Delhi-Durgapur-Kolkata as the initial route, after much deliberation with domestic airlines. Among scheduled airlines, GoAir and Indigo are understood to be engaged in talks with BAPL to commence operations on the Delhi-Durgapur route.

“We are in talks with all major domestic fliers. We are confident airlines will follow, one after the other,” Nair said.

An official of a low-cost carrier said, “We are in talks for the Delhi-Durgapur-Kolkata route. But you need 70-80 per cent occupancy to make any route viable. For now, we are not very sure how feasible it would be to operate out of Durgapur.”

BAPL is banking on the Asansol-Durgapur-Dhanbad industrial belt. Earlier, Partha Ghosh, managing director and promoter of BAPL, had said the R K Swamy BBDO market potential value report had prompted him, then a real estate developer, to conceive the idea of an airport in Durgapur. The report had said among the first 27 urban centres, Durgapur was the only city without an airport.

It had also ranked the 50-km Durgapur-Asansol industrial zone as India’s 14th most prominent urban agglomeration.

The Asansol Durgapur Planning Area has a population of about three million. BAPL's catchment area accounts for facilities across the iron & steel, aluminum, locomotives, cables, specialised optical lenses, coal mining and power generation sectors, along with related ancillary units. Major units in the catchment area employ a large number of staff, of which 15 per cent is management cadre, says a BAPL internal assessment report. “There are 17 engineering colleges, two deemed universities, 18 polytechnics and management institutes within the project's immediate and extended catchment area," the report adds.

Earlier, Partha Ghosh had said, “The airport is well connected to the catchment towns of Asansol, Ranigunj, Dhanbad, Barddhaman and Bokaro steel city, by rail and road. The region contributes 500,000 passengers a year to the Kolkata or Ranchi airports, both about 200 km away.” For domestic fliers, does the Andal airport have the potential to become an alternative to that in Kolkata? "For people of the region, it could be an alternative. But first, airlines would like to see how it works in the initial days for Air India," says Anil Punjabi, chairman (eastern region), Travel Agents Federation of India.

On May 18, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with some of her Cabinet colleagues, secretaries and members of the film industry in the state, are expected to travel on the first Air India flight from Kolkata to Durgapur.

Punjabi said unlike Air India, most private airlines didn't have smaller aircraft such as ATRs. “Airlines such as IndiGo operate 180-seater A-320 aircraft. I think only Jet Airways operates ATR aircraft. It might be difficult to record 70-80 per cent occupancy in a 180-seater flight in Durgapur. They would like to wait for some time before coming here,” he added.

To attract airlines, BAPL is offering concessions on landing and parking fees, as well as subsidy on seats. Besides, West Bengal is the first state in the country to waive the 100 per cent sales tax on aviation turbine fuel at Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport, as well as in those at Cooch Behar and Bagdogra, for a three-year period.

Officials say BAPL is also considering "seat underwriting", or buying seats to attract fliers. The entity is also understood to have initiated talks with non-scheduled airline Air Costa to connect Durgapur with Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

 
CLARIFICATION
In a earlier version of this article, Changi Airport Consultants was wrongly mentioned as Changi Airport Planners and Engineers. Changi Airports International too was incorrectly referred to as Changi Airport International. The errors are regretted.

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First Published: May 16 2015 | 11:11 PM IST

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