Mamata Banerjee urges British Airways to resume direct London-Kolkata flights
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee made the request while urging the British industries to help in green technologies, smart infrastructure, and clean energy sectors
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has requested British Airways to resume direct flights between London and Kolkata while inviting British businesses to invest in West Bengal.
“My humble request to my friends from the UK airlines. Can you give us one direct flight? British Airways used to operate [London-Kolkata flights]. But before we came to power [in 2011], the service was withdrawn. I do not know what the cause was. But now every flight is almost fully booked. We are also giving some fuel concessions. Whoever approaches us first, we will give them an advantage in fuel tax,” Banerjee said at an interactive session titled “Opportunities in West Bengal” in London on Tuesday.
British Airways ended flights to Kolkata in March 2009 after almost 80 years of operations. Air India discontinued its direct Kolkata-London flight three years after starting it in 2005 because of poor load factor.
Banerjee said that the British industries can help the state in green technologies, smart infrastructure, and clean energy sectors. “We welcome further partnership in areas such as automation, engineering, and green manufacturing, artificial intelligence, etc,” she said at the event, a video of which was shared on Banerjee’s Facebook page.
Banerjee, who is scheduled to deliver a lecture at the University of Oxford on Thursday before returning to India on Friday, said West Bengal has received investment proposals of over ₹23 lakh crore through the Bengal Global Business summits (BGBS) her government has held over the years.
“The UK was our partner country multiple times in the BGBS. West Bengal has agreed to the proposed studies by the British high commission to strengthen the state’s tax revenue and develop green budgeting under the India-UK cooperation,” she said.
