The withdrawal of Air India (AI)’s Calcutta-Heathrow non-stop flight has left fliers from the city with only one direct flight to London.

After the national carrier takes off for London for the last time this year on October 26, passengers wishing to fly to London without a stopover will have to opt for British Airways.

“The flight has been withdrawn in the winter schedule, but there are plans to reintroduce it with better timings,” an AI spokesperson said on Wednesday. AI officials, however, couldn’t give a specific date when the flight would be reintroduced.

The spokesperson said those who had already booked seats on the flight after October 26 would be taken to London via Delhi.

“We are getting inquiries from passengers who want to visit Europe and also those coming to the city from London about whether they can book on the flight during Christmas,” said Anil Punjabi, the chairman (east) of the Travel Agents Federation of India.

Tour operators predict that with no competition in the sector, the fares might go up in the Calcutta-London route in the winter schedule. On an average, 150 passengers fly to London from Calcutta airport daily and in the peak season, the number goes up to 250.

AI officials, however, admitted that the passenger load for this sector has been low for the past few months. According to them, bad timing was one of the reasons.

Operating thrice a week, the flight now takes off from Calcutta at 1.15pm and reaches London after 7pm (local time). This causes problems for fliers who want to take connecting flights from Heathrow for onward journey.

“The flight used to get cancelled frequently. Also, one has to spend several hours at Heathrow for taking a connecting flight,” said trader Deepak Malhotra, a frequent flier to Europe. “The decision for withdrawal was brought forward due to the global economic slump,” said an aviation ministry official.