Lockdown calendar a relief for flyers, airlines

KOLKATA: Flyers, airlines officials and travel agents on Tuesday welcomed the announcement of all lockdown dates in August that eliminated the possibility of uncertainty plaguing the sector since last week when the twice-a-week complete lockdown was introduced. There is, however, uncertainty over the fate of flights from six cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, to Kolkata that are currently banned.A question mark also hangs over international flights that are not allowed to land in Kolkata.
“I was booked to travel on August 16 but will now have to reschedule the ticket since it is a lockdown date when fights won’t operate. Though it is still a hassle, it is much better than getting to know with less than a week to go. I now know the dates when travel won’t be disrupted,” said Kaushik Mukherjee, who works in a law firm.

He and scores of other passengers booked to travel on dates on which lockdown was declared on Tuesday called up travel agents and airlines to make the necessary alterations in plans. At least three travel agents TOI spoke to said they would have their hands full till the end of the week to adjust clients’ travel schedules.
Though flights had operated last Thursday, the first day of biweekly lockdown in the state, they were cancelled on Saturday. Trains though operated on Saturday, too, but will not operate on Wednesday and on all lockdown dates in August.
“It’s good that the lockdown schedule for the entire month has been declared instead of just a week. This way, there is clarity that will help airlines schedule their flights, passengers book their tickets and us, the travel agents, offer confirmed bookings. I wish the state government had also announced its decision on international flights and flights from the six cities that currently cannot land in Kolkata or other airports in the state,” said Travel Agents’ Federation of India chairman (east) Anil Punjabi.
Sources in the airport said the state was likely to seek an extension of the embargo on both international flights and domestic flights from the worst Covid-hit states. “We expect a communication from the civil aviation ministry in the next couple of days,” the official said.
Though the second lockdown date in the current week had not been announced in advance, passengers and travel agents had worked out that it was unlikely to be on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and gone ahead with ticket bookings on these days. The reasoning was that Saturday being Eid and shopping possible only on Thursday and Friday, the state was unlikely to declare them as lockdown days.
The lockdown was also initially considered on Monday (August 3) but shifted to Wednesday (August 5) to avoid inconvenience on Raksha Bandhan. Similarly, August 29 was initially considered a lockdown date but it was later shifted to August 31 as Muharram will be observed on the former date this year.