Air Arabia Abu Dhabi to Start Flight Operations Between Kolkata and UAE

UAE's affordable air carrier - Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, will soon start a new flight route to Kolkata from Abu Dhabi.

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, a UAE-based low-cost carrier, is ready to commence flight operations to Kolkata from the UAE capital - Abu Dhabi, from March 15 onwards. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a statement here on Thursday. The new service between Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport, Kolkata and Abu Dhabi International Airport will be available three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, the statement said. According to the statement, the aircraft will leave Abu Dhabi at 2.25 pm (local time) and reach Kolkata 8.20 pm (local time) on all three days. The return flight will leave Kolkata at 9.05 pm (local time) the same day and reach Abu Dhabi at 1.05 am (local time). The airline will operate an Airbus A320 aircraft on the route.

In a press release shared by Air Arabia Abu Dhabi on its website, it said that Kolkata marks the seventh destination for the airline in India after Cochin, Calicut, Trivandrum, Chennai, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad.

Quoting Adel Al Ali, the group chief executive officer of Air Arabia, the statement also said that the service will provide its customer base with more convenient and affordable opportunities for business, leisure, and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Well, last month, a Sharjah-bound Air Arabia flight was grounded after a bird strike. Two eagles struck the aircraft's left engine moments before takeoff, forcing the plane to land in Coimbatore on Monday. The plane was taxiing through the runway when the birds struck the engine.

After colliding with the engine blades, one of the two eagles dies. After the incident all 164 passengers exited the aircraft. In the past seven years, there have been three bird strikes on aeroplanes taking off from Coimbatore on average, but this was the first occasion all passengers had exited the aircraft to see the damage.