Bhubaneswar A 9-seater IndiaOne Air aircraft left for Utkela from the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar around 10.30 am on Thursday, signalling the beginning of flight services to Odisha’s Kalahandi district.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off the maiden flight. The Union Minister, who joined the event virtually through videoconferencing, also inaugurated the newly-constructed Utkela Airport along with the CM on the occasion.
Kalahandi MP Basanta Panda had earlier tweeted that the maiden flight from Utkela Airport, 15 km from the district headquarters of Bhawanipatna, will take off for Bhubaneswar at 12.45 pm.
It is the fifth airport in Odisha after BPIA, Jharsuguda, Jeypore and Rourkela to start flight operations.
According to its official website, the airline will connect Utkela to Bhubaneswar with 2X weekly flights on Tuesday and Thursday. The flight will take off from BPIA in Bhubaneswar at 7.15 am and arrive in Utkela at 8.25 am. It will leave the new airport at 8.50 am and land at Bhubaneswar at 10 am. The introductory one-way fare was fixed at Rs 999 per passenger. The ticket price comes to around Rs 1049.
All tickets between Utkela and Bhubaneswar are sold out for the month of September, according to the website.
Utkela Airport is among the airstrips listed under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN. The state government has spent around Rs 162 crore for acquisition of land, construction of runway and terminal building for the airport in Bhawanipatna. Director General Civil Aviation Monday (DGCA) issued the licence to start flight operations on August 7.
