In an expansive move, the Chennai-based Paramount Airways has, Monday onwards, started new flights to connect the south Indian cities with the eastern and northeastern region, most likely to be the first carrier to begin operations to Cooch Behar’s recently-modernized airport.

Paramount, which is working on increasing its present fleet of five aircrafts to twenty in the coming year, now has 2,000 monthly flights operational in 15 destinations across the country, with an 80 per cent average load factor. Paramount, India’s first all business class airline, began operating in October 2005, and has thus far almost 27 percent market share in southern India.

Talking about the airlines’ move to spread out its operations, a Paramount Airways’ official said: “The airline plans to cover all major cities in the western region by 2009 and start operations in northern India and remaining cities of north-eastern region from 2010 onwards. The best part of the Paramount Airways schedule was that eastern India passengers would find it more convenient to connect to other important destinations like Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli, Bangalore, Kochi, and Hyderabad.”

M Thiagarajan, Paramount’s Managing Director, said that the carrier intends connecting all important international destinations within a period of two years.