International flyers in Kolkata want flights to resume as West Bengal government remains mum – Times Now

Hundreds of people in Kolkata are desperately waiting for the West Bengal government to take a decision on resumption of international flights from the city. Currently, international flights are not allowed at the Kolkata airport owing to the coronavirus crisis which has forced the state government to suspend all overseas operations.

Many who are stuck overseas and want to return back home or those who want to travel outside the country from Kolkata have pleaded to the West Bengal government to consider allowing international flights. The Bengal government had earlier refused to provide no-objection certificate to several international carriers and has not allowed even Vande Bharat repatriation flights operated by Air India.

“My parents are stuck here in the UK for the last several months. My young sister is all alone at home in Kolkata. My father is 65 and my mother is 55. Since they are so stressed, they had even decided to travel up to Delhi but looking at the situation and quarantine protocols, we are still waiting for the Kolkata airport to open and allow Vande Bharat flights to land,” a London resident Moon Sharma from Kolkata was quoted as saying by Times of India.

Even the travel agents in the city have all but given up hopes of arranging flights for overseas travel for their clients and are waiting for final clearance from the Bengal government which might see the operations resume successfully once again at the Kolkata airport. West Bengal has been struggling to deal with the pandemic with the number of positive cases rising with each passing weak.

So far West Bengal has reported more than 86,000 positive cases of the novel coronavirus out of which more than 61,000 people have managed to recover and have been discharged from hospitals. Nearly 2,000 people have died due to COVID-19 in the state so far.