It was in the late 1980s when the last airline operated a scheduled service to Cooch Behar. And after lying idle for all these years, flight operations are expected to resume at the Airport in a couple of months. Though there were efforts to kickstart operations at the airport three years ago. Air Deccan conducted a test flight but never went ahead with commercial operations. But this time things are expected to be different according to AAI authorities.
Non-scheduled flight operator Deccan Charter has applied for a daily service between Kolkata and Cooch Behar with an 18-seater Beechcraft 1900 Delta aircraft. If the service becomes popular, they may introduce more flights. As of now Beechcraft would do one trip to Cooch Behar in the morning and three trips to Jamshedpur thereafter. The airline expects to start operations next month.
At present, the runway length is 1,069 m and AAI is adding 60 m. It has plans increase it by a further 259 m to allow ATRs to operate comfortably. It has invested nearly Rs 40 crore to construct a new technical block and terminal building with a capacity to handle 100 passengers or two small aircraft at a time. Around 35 AAI staffs have already been identified for deployment at the airport. The state government will provide security till CISF takes over.

Jul 27, 2010