Dragonair, the sister airline of Cathay Pacific Airways, will land in Kolkata late in the night on November 2 following an assurance from Airports Authority of India (AAI) that the new integrated passenger terminal will be fully operational by then. The return flight will take off shortly after midnight on November 3.

Dragonair has plans to fly four times a week between Kolkata and Hongkong facilitating convenience of commuters.

Dragonair officials, led by general manager ( South Asia, Middle East & Africa) Tom Wright, had visited the city a couple of months ago and met representatives of the state government, Kolkata airport and the travel trade community. The airline had then made it clear that it would land in Kolkata only if it can operate from the new terminal according to report in TOI.

"The current international terminal in Kolkata is in a shambles. We don't want to commence services from there as it does not go with our brand image or service standards," an official had told TOI.

The arrival of Dragonair will mark the return of a Hong Kong-based carrier to Kolkata after four decades.

With AAI beginning trial operations at the international section of the airport earlier this month, sources said airport authorities were confident of catering to all international flights in a couple of months. However, a couple of key areas remain to be addressed, including aerobridges that are still to arrive from Indonesia and immigration checks that are yet to be in place at the new facility.

Airport officials said both the issues will be sorted out by next month end so that all international flights can migrate to the new terminal by September-October.

Cathay Pacific, which flew into Kolkata in 1953, bid adieu to the city in 1970. It was the first among several airlines to abandon Kolkata. KLM, Royal Nepal, Royal Jordanian, Royal Brunei, Gulf Air, Malaysian Airlines, Jet-Star Asia, British Airways, Lufthansa and GMG followed in due course of time.

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