A daily flight on the Calcutta-Chennai-Calcutta sector, with eight seats available for just Rs 700, booked 90 days in advance, and the most expensive going for Rs 5,000, cheaper still than apex fares of all other airlines on the route.

Touted as India?s only low-cost carrier, Deccan Air is coming to Calcutta from December 10, promising cheap tickets and connectivity to areas where no other airline flies.

Plans are in place to make Calcutta the eastern region hub by early-February, with 20 daily flights in and out of the city, to destinations like Ranchi, Patna, Jamshedpur, Agartala and Dibrugarh, followed by metros like Mumbai and Delhi.

Calcutta is the second port of call in the east, with the Delhi-Guwahati-Delhi flight kicking off in September.

?We want to connect the east and the northeast to the rest of the country, using Calcutta as the base,? said John K. Kuruvilla, chief revenue officer and head (commercial). ?Within three weeks of launching the first flight, we will start adding routes in the region. Soon after, the flights to the other metros will start.?

The 48-seater ATR will ply on the smaller routes, while the 180-seater Airbus will service the metros.

?Obsession for cost?, the strategy that has worked in the other regions, will also drive the market in the east. The principle is rationalisation of cost and maximisation of revenue.

?This happens in several ways. We don?t serve free food or drinks (water costs Rs 10 and sandwich Rs 40). Our turnaround time (between take-off and landing) with ATRs is 15 minutes, and 30 minutes for the Airbuses. So, we can operate eight, instead of six, flights a day,? explained Kuruvilla.

?Also, the Internet booking system is very popular, which cuts distribution costs from 18-20 per cent to six to eight per cent. It?s a myth that Indians are afraid to use credit cards online. For instance, on November 24, of the Rs 91-lakh worth of sales, about Rs 41 lakh came through direct online bookings. This also cuts manpower,? revealed the Deccan Air official.

Calcutta airport does seem to be taxiing down the runway to more flights, national and global. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel had, during his trip to town in September for a travel industry convention, promised priority status to international airlines wanting to land in Calcutta and to the upgrade of infrastructure facilities at Dum Dum airport.

Indian Airlines added three flights from Calcutta to Bangkok in October, bringing the total to nine, while Thai Airways started two more flights a week on the Calcutta-Bangkok-Calcutta sector from November 1. On the domestic front, Jet has added a flight on the Calcutta-Mumbai-Calcutta sector, as has Air-India.

Malaysia Airlines has finally announced its launch on January 29 with three flights a week from Calcutta to Kuala Lumpur.

?Gulf Air will also be adding a third weekly flight,? said Sanjoy Sett, chairman, eastern region, Travel Agents Association of India. ?There will be three this month to carry the extra load, but the service will officially start from January 18.?

Having begun in August 2003, Deccan Air now has 78 flights a day, with 20 more to be added this month in the north itself, including in Jammu. There are also plans to acquire four more aircraft in the first quarter of next year.