Flight operations between Calcutta and Pakyong, Sikkim’s first airport, took off on Thursday amid soaring demand for tickets to the hill destination.

The SpiceJet flight that landed in Pakyong at 1.25pm, carried 77 passengers and returned to Calcutta with 68 passengers.

The airline is flying a 78-seater Bombardier Q400 series aircraft on the route.

The demand is high for seats on the Pakyong flight during Puja and fares for the few seats available on October 16, 17 and 18 — Saptami, Ashtami and Navami — are going at over Rs 30,000 for a round trip.

Tour operators are planning chartered flights for large groups. “We have been flooded with queries for destination weddings in Sikkim. These are groups travelling together. Since the SpiceJet flight can only accommodate 78 people, we are looking at options to charter a flight,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman, east, Travel Agents Federation of India.

Pakyong airport officials confirmed enquiries about chartered flights. “Many companies want to charter small aircraft for their owners who otherwise would have come via Bagdogra. There also several companies in Sikkim who want to hire private planes for their top officials,” said

R. Manjunatha, Pakyong airport director.

Sikkim’s first airport is located 4,600ft above sea level and is a little more than an hour’s drive from Gangtok. It’s a big relief for travellers used to making a 124km road journey to Gangtok from the Bagdogra airport or New Jalpaiguri railway station.

The cheapest ticket on the Calcutta-Pakyong sector has been fixed at Rs 2,600 under a central scheme to promote flights to smaller destinations. This price is restricted to about 25 per cent of the available seats.

A SpiceJet official said the subsidised seats are fast filling up.