Many travellers have their BA memories. Corporate traveller Niraj Basotia recalls, “I was booked on Calcutta-Heathrow with a connecting flight to Belgium. At the Heathrow Airport, I found that my luggage was not on the flight.” Having reached Belgium with just his laptop, he had to purchase everything from a business suit to toothbrush. He wrote a letter to the airline about the inconvenience faced. “Without asking for any clarification, they reimbursed my entire bill of Rs 30,000, besides gifting me a Harrington suit,” recalls Basotia.

With Air India having withdrawn its Kolkata-London direct flight in October last year, British Airways bidding goodbye to the city snapped the last direct connectivity to London. “The adieu by British Airways is a disaster for aviation in this sector. We will soon feel the repercussions,” says Anil Punjabi, Chairman (East) of the Travel Agents Federation of India. The flight with 239 passengers took off at 5.26 am. The visitors, who had come to see of relatives and friends, the passengers and the crew hoped that the airline would soon return to the City of Joy.

The journey

British Airways started flying to the city in 1932, but its operations have been intermittent. It stopped its direct service from Kolkata in 1985, but reintroduced it in 1993. In 2001, the airline decided to start a non-stop flight to London thrice a week. “I have been with British Airways for 13 years and visited Kolkata six times. The withdrawal is really sad. Hope we can come back soon,” said Chad Lochpawn, a cabin crew. The airline operates flights to and from five Indian cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad to London.