Spicejet planning direct Kolkata-Goa flight

Low-fare airline SpiceJet is planning to introduce non-stop flights between Kolkata and Goa from the winter of 2007. “Having strengthened our operations in eastern and southern India, our target now is western India,” Siddhanta Sharma, CEO, SpiceJet , said. He was announcing the launch of the airline’s Kolkata-Hyderabad daily flight from February 4. The airline also plans to fly to Jaipur and Ahmedabad from Kolkata in a few months. “A non-stop flight should not take more than two-and-a- half-hours to reach Goa from Kolkata. The journey time now is much more, as there is no direct flight,” said Sharma. According to the initial plan, the flight will leave Kolkata at noon and reach the seaside destination at 2.30pm.

“Goa is an extremely popular tourist spot, visited by 10-12 per cent of domestic passengers from the eastern region,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman (east), Travel Agents Federation of India. “Once direct flights start, the number will increase significantly.” SpiceJet’s Kolkata-Hyderabad flight will leave Kolkata at 2.15pm and reach the destination at 4.15pm. The lowest fare on the route for a round trip is Rs 1,800, excluding taxes. The airline will operate Boeing 737-800 series aircraft that can seat 189 passengers, all in the economy class. Sharma said the airline was “registering an encouraging response” on the existing Kolkata-Chennai-Bangalore sector.

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