Hyderabad flight from Siliguri

TT, Siliguri: Residents of Siliguri and north Bengal as a whole will now have the option to travel directly to the southern city of Hyderabad, known for its Charminar and biryani.

IndiGo, a private airline company, will introduce direct flights connecting Bagdogra with Hyderabad. 

"It is indeed good news for the residents of Siliguri and the surrounding areas. Hyderabad is one of the prominent metros of south India and people from this region regularly visit the city for medical treatment and other purposes. The new flight would help them and conversely, will help in bringing more tourists to north Bengal from Andhra Pradesh and Telengana," said a tour operator based in Siliguri.

Sources said Hyderabad would be the seventh metro in the country to be connected with Bagdogra.

As of now, Chennai and Bengaluru are the only two metros in south India which have direct flights to Bagdogra. The other cities which are connected by direct flights are Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Guwahati.

"The new flight is likely to be introduced from the middle of this month and reaffirms the steady rise in number of flights at the airport," said a source. 

For the past three-four years, Bagdogra has witnessed an unprecedented growth of passenger traffic. In the last fiscal, over two million people have travelled through the airport. Also, the number of daily flights is close to 30 now.

The flight, sources said, will depart from Hyderabad at 8.20am and will reach Bagdogra at 10.50am.

"It will take around twoand-half hours to reach Bagdogra from Hyderabad. While returning, the flight will depart from Bagdogra at 11.30am and will reach Hyderabad at 2pm," the source added.

The announcement, how- ever, has prompted a section of Siliguri residents to reiterate the demand of expansion of the Bagdogra airport.

"Introduction of a new flight is always a welcoming step. But simultaneously, the number of passengers will increase. It is high time that the Airport Authority of India initiated expansion of the airport. In these days, the airport gets crowded every day, particularly in the afternoon hours. The number of flights will surely go high in due course but the infrastructure should also be proper at the airport to handle the passenger traffic," said Kaushik Dutta, a banker.