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The domestic flight operations from Kolkata will begin from May 28 instead of May 25, after the state government put in a request to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) defer the opening up of the aviation sector owing to the ongoing relief work due to Cyclone Amphan. The state authorities reasoned that the local machinery was involved in relief and restoration work caused by Amphan, due to which re-starting flights from the Kolkata Airport looked like a difficult proposition for the time being.
The authorities requested that the date of the re-start of domestic flights thus be deferred by three days.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier this week announced that the Centre would be resuming the domestic flights from May 25, a decision that drew concerns from several state administrations, including Maharashtra and West Bengal.
After Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said during a video address that the state needed more time before domestic flights could resume, state minister Nawab Malik announced that a decision had been reached to allow 25 incoming and outgoing flights from Mumbai from Monday, in what marked a U-turn from the CM's statement.
