Kolkata: Airlines are adding flights and frequencies from Kolkata ahead of the Durga Puja and winter travel rush — when the city sees heightened demand for inbound family travel and outbound holiday trips. SpiceJet, IndiGo, Emirates and Akasa Air have all planned additional services on domestic and international routes.SpiceJet will add 22 special flights from Oct 10, connecting Kolkata with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Bagdogra and Port Blair. Bagdogra will get additional links with Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata.The airline will also operate a Mumbai-Port Blair service via Kolkata without passengers having to change aircraft. The additional flights will cover the puja period and subsequent festive travel rush.“Durga Puja is one of the most important times of the year for Kolkata, when the city comes alive and families travel from across the country to be together. We are adding 22 special flights to give passengers more choice and to make it easier to travel to Kolkata and Bagdogra during the festive season,” said Debojo Maharshi, chief business officer, SpiceJet.IndiGo, which operates more than 110 daily departures from Kolkata, is planning an increase in services. The airline is reintroducing flights to Shanghai and Siem Reap, and will start a Singapore service from Oct 1.On the domestic front, IndiGo will add frequencies on several routes, including Port Blair, Varanasi, Delhi, Chennai and Guwahati, besides increasing capacity to Surat.Emirates is increasing its Kolkata connectivity. The airline will raise its frequency from 11 flights a week to 12 during the winter schedule. All Emirates aircraft operating from Kolkata will offer Premium Economy seats in their configuration.Akasa Air, meanwhile, is set to increase its daily departures from Kolkata from the current 10-11 to 17 from Oct 25. The airline currently operates two daily flights to Mumbai and one to Navi Mumbai. From Oct 25, it will operate four daily flights to Mumbai, an additional Mumbai flight on alternate days, and two daily flights to Navi Mumbai.
