Prayagraj: Aviation company Akasa Air has proposed a direct service from the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport to Kolkata via Prayagraj, offering relief to passengers who long awaited a flight connection to the eastern metropolis.At present, Prayagraj has direct flights to only 6 cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar and Bilaspur. Services to nine other cities have been discontinued over the past two years, raising concerns about declining connectivity. In 2023, the city was connected to around 15 destinations, but several routes were gradually withdrawn. The reduction began in Oct 2023, when IndiGo discontinued flights to Raipur, Indore and Gorakhpur. By March 2024, the Pune-Prayagraj service was also suspended. Later, Alliance Air halted its flights to Kolkata and Dehradun. Services to cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur, Jammu, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Bhopal were also discontinued. Temporary hope emerged during Maha Kumbh 2025, when flights from 10 additional cities were introduced for the mela period. However, these services operated only between Jan 10 and Feb 26, 2025, and were withdrawn afterwards. Airport director Rajesh Chawla said discussions on Akasa Air’s proposal were progressing positively. The airline will soon conduct a detailed survey of passenger demand and traffic load on the proposed route. If the survey results are favourable, the proposal will be sent to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for approval.
