Allahabad: Local residents wanting to travel to the national capital and other cities via air would now have fewer options to choose from after SpiceJet and Air India decided to discontinue flights connecting Allahabad to Delhi and Kolkata respectively.The flights started operations in January ahead of Kumbh-2019. While the SpiceJet flight was a direct one, Air India offered one between Delhi and Kolkata with Allahabad as a stopover.During the 2013 Mahakumbh, the two airlines had introduced flights between Delhi and Allahabad , only to discontinue them later.In 2013, SpiceJet and Air India launched flights between Allahabad and Delhi for over three months, but discontinued them once the religious congregation ended. Organised at a 3,200 hectare ground in the city, the Kumbh-2019 commenced on January 15 and ended on March 4. According to Airports Authority of India (AAI), Allahabad unit, as many as 68,721 people flew in and out of the newly inaugurated civil terminal at Bamrauli Airport during January and February this year.AAI officials said that 868 flights landed and took off from the civil terminal during the two-month period, including those operated by private and commercial airlines. As per the air traffic data collected by AAI for the civil terminal, 163 flights landed and took off in January.The figure comprised 59 Air India flights, 52 by Jet Airways (under the regional connectivity scheme or RCS) and, 26 each by SpiceJet and Indigo under RCS. In February, 168 flights landed and departed at the civil terminals and the four airlines together ferried 36,524 passengers.Airport Director of civil terminal, Sunil Yadav, said, “The data shows that both the number of flights and passengers arriving at the Bamrauli Airport rose significantly in first two months of the year.”

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