West Bengal Requests Delay In Resuming Domestic Air Travel; First Flight Services From May 28

Owing to the natural calamity, the domestic flight operations will not be resuming in West Bengal right away. The Kolkata Airport will resume domestic flight services from May 28 instead of May 25.

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Kolkata: Ministry of Civil Aviation is set to resume domestic flights across India from Monday, May 25. While several states have geared up for the move, West Bengal seeks delay in services. The state government said that the state machinery is involved in the relief and restoration work in the aftermath of super cyclone Amphan. Owing to the natural calamity, the domestic flight operations will not be resuming in West Bengal right away. The Kolkata Airport will resume domestic flight services from May 28 instead of May 25. In an official statement, the West Bengal government said, "As the state government machinery is involved in relief and restoration work in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Amphan, state government had requested MoCA to defer resumption of flights from Kolkata Airport. Accordingly flights will resume at Kolkata from 28/05 instead of 25/05, with reduced schedule". Earlier on Sunday, Maharashtra government also requested Civial Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to allow delay in resuming air travel. In a LIVE address to the state on Sunday afternoon, Chief Minister had said that "Today morning, I spoke to civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri. I recognize the need of opening air travel but for that, we need some time to do preparations before resuming domestic flights." However, later in the evening, the government agreed to allow 25 takeoffs and 25 landings every day for domestic flights from Mumbai. It added that this number will be increased gradually and the State govt will issue details and guidelines in this regard soon. Earlier this week, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had announced that domestic civil aviation will resume operations in a calibrated manner from Monday 25th May 2020. "All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May," Puri said. Ever since the imposition of the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country on March 25, passenger air services were suspended for both scheduled domestic and international flights.