Indian airline Alliance Air, known for its regional network of predominantly short flights using an ATR fleet, now flies between India's capital, New Delhi, and Kolkata. This is a new development as this main route is normally served by major Indian airlines using Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.

Popular narrow jets such as the Airbus A320 family or the Boeing 737 are usually used on the route between Delhi in northern India and Kolkata in the east. The smaller turboprop aircraft operated by some airlines are typically reserved for regional services, with flights primarily to and from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Aviation expert Ameya Joshi, also known as Khabri Lal on X (formerly Twitter), pointed out an interesting development. His post revealed that Alliance Air is offering a flight between Delhi and Hyderabad on April 24 and 5 weekly services between Delhi and Kolkata.

The Delhi to Hyderabad flight was obviously a golden opportunity as Alliance Air did not list it on their website. However, flights are sold between Kolkata and Delhi covering a distance of 1313 km, making it the longest ATR flight in India. Alliance Air has listed a block time of nearly three hours for this flight, while other airlines list it as two hours and 10 minutes. However, the airline operates this flight at 16:00 p.m. or 17:00 p.m. depending on the day of the week, which may be suitable for some passengers.

Alliance Air, a former subsidiary of Air India, was founded in 1996 and specializes in regional flights in India. The airline primarily serves small and medium-sized cities in India and plays an important role in connecting remote areas to the national air transport network. With its fleet of ATR aircraft, Alliance Air primarily offers domestic flights.

Still, it is a departure from Alliance Air's usual network, which primarily offers regional flights and provides connectivity to India's tier 2 and 3 cities, many of which fall under the government-subsidized regional connectivity program.

The ATR aircraft have a long and eventful history. ATR, a joint venture between Airbus and Leonardo SpA (formerly Finmeccanica), was founded in 1981. The company produces turboprop aircraft for regional aviation. The first model, the ATR 42, flew for the first time in 1984. Later the ATR 72 was introduced, a lengthened version of the original model. ATR aircraft are characterized by their efficiency and reliability and are popular with regional airlines around the world.