The Hindu : National : IA flights to evacuate people from the Andamans

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 27, 2004

National

National

IA flights to evacuate people from the Andamans

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 26. Indian Airlines will operate Boeing 737 flights to Port Blair from Kolkata and Chennai over the next two days to evacuate people from Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the wake of extensive devastation there caused by a massive earthquake.

As against scheduled operations of two services Kolkata-Port Blair-Kolkata, a total of three flights with B-737 aircraft are planned tomorrow. While the first flight is scheduled to take off at 4.45 a.m. from Kolkata and land at Port Blair at 6.45 a.m. It will depart from Port Blair at 7.30 a.m. and arrive at Kolkata at 9.30 a.m.

The second flight will depart from Kolkata at 10 a.m. and arrive at Port Blair at noon, it will depart from Port Blair at 12.45 p.m. and reach Kolkata at 2.45 p.m. The third flight will depart from Kolkata at 10.50 a.m. and arrive at Port Blair at 12.50 p.m., departing from there at 1.20 p.m. and arriving in Kolkata at 3. 20 p.m.

On December 28, two B-737 flights from Kolkata will be operated to Port Blair. While the first flight will depart from Kolkata at 4. 45 a.m., the second will leave at 10 a.m., according to an IA release here.

From Chennai, IA will operate two flights to Port Blair with B-737 aircraft tomorrow and on Tuesday. While the first flight will depart from Chennai at 5.15 a.m., the second will take off at 10.45 a.m. on both the days, arriving at Port Blair at 7.20 a.m. and 12.50 p.m. respectively.

An IA spokesperson said that the airline operated an Airbus A-320 flight today from Kolkata to Port Blair that could land at Port Blair at 7.30 a.m. and returned with 129 passengers on board. The public sector carrier would operate Boeing 737 flights as only 5,500 feet of runway at Port Blair airport is available. Further requirement of flights would be arranged after assessment of the IA team that visited Port Blair today.

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