Zoom Air (India) (Delhi International) is planning to launch its maiden international services connecting Kolkata and Guwahati in India's North-East with each of Chittagong in Bangladesh and Yangon in Myanmar, CEO Koustav Dhar has told the PTI newswire.
"We will be able to introduce international flights from Kolkata because from now on, we will park two aircraft in the city at night," Dhar has said.
The routes could be launched following the addition of the fifth CRJ200ER to the carrier's fleet. Zoom Air has recently announced it has entered into an agreement with a fellow Indian operator Club One Air (Delhi International) covering the dry-lease of the unit.
The carrier will most likely use Guwahati as an intermediate stop on the services out of Kolkata.
Currently, Zoom Air bases one CRJ-200ER out of Kolkata and deploys the aircraft on its route to Tezpur under the government's UDAN scheme. The carrier also plans to launch services out of Kolkata to each of Mumbai International (via Durgapur) and Delhi International on purely commercial terms.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Kolkata is currently connected to Chittagong by Regent Airways, US-Bangla Airlines, and Myanma Airways, while the route to Yangon is operated by MAI - Myanmar Airways International and Air India. For its part, Guwahati currently does not receive services to either of the cities as its international network is limited to routes to each of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Paro.
Zoom Air's international ambitions would require government approval as India generally requires airlines to operate at least 20 aircraft domestically before venturing abroad.
