High fares, odd hours, Kanpur-Delhi flight hits breakers on runway

In 2005, following the efforts of Jaiswal, a flight service was launched after a gap of nearly two decades.

But due to poor flight occupancy, the service was discontinued after 18 months.

The project was relaunched on September 20, 2007.

In the last one year, the flight schedule has been changed eight times, nine flight managers have been posted and later transferred from the Ahirwana Airport and the flight has been cancelled on more than 18 occasions.

Nearly eight to ten passengers take the daily flight from Kanpur and many times, the number drops even further. Worst, on three occasions, the flight had not carried a single passenger and on six flights, the number of passengers was below five.

The flight from New Delhi arrives in Kanpur at 2:55 pm and the return flight departs at 5:15 pm. Local industrialist Micky Manchanda said: 8220;Earlier, it used to be a morning flight and it was convenient to finish work and return to Kanpur in the evening.8221; But now that the timings have been changed to afternoon, people prefer taking a train to Delhi, he added.

Admitting that a morning flight can draw more passengers, Jaiswal said, 8220;we are planning to start a morning flight8221;.

High fares have also affected air traffic. Travel agent Shariq Alvi said: 8220;The Kanpur to New Delhi air ticket costs Rs 4,400, whereas the Lucknow to New Delhi ticket stands at Rs 3,100. Therefore majority of the passengers prefer catching a flight to New Delhi from the state capital.8221;