Durgapur Emerges From The Shadows

The first private airport in West Bengal, Durgapur Airport has witnessed unprecedented passenger growth making it the third busiest airport in the state, reports Amartya Sinha

- Amartya Sinha

Resting on the banks of the Damodar river between the cities of Durgapur and Asansol, lies the Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport (KNIA) in West Bengal. The project, once conceived as India’s first-ever aerotropolis (airport city), has emerged as an aviation gateway in the region with flights to three metropolitan cities.

After some aberrations in the last half a decade, the airport is now witnessing increasing footfalls in the number of domestic passengers. “A lot has happened at our project, both in the cityside and at the integrated KNIA. I am excited to announce that SpiceJet has launched daily direct flights from Durgapur to Mumbai. This, added to the fact that the regular scheduled flights being operated by Air India to New Delhi and Hyderabad have consistently registered over 85-90 per cent occupancy rates even during the lean season, when all other airlines and routes across India typically register a drop, gives us a reason to rejoice,” said Partha Ghosh, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of BAPL (Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited). Debashis Saha, Associate Vice President—Regulatory & Government Affairs, SpiceJet, could not agree more. “Known for its steel industries, Durgapur is an important destination for us in terms of enhancing connectivity for the state of West Bengal. The new flights will serve both the industrial cities of Durgapur and Asansol, hence, we see tremendous potential in this sector.”