Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Majhi on Thursday flagged off Odisha’s first direct international flight from Bhubaneswar to Abu Dhabi, operated by IndiGo from Biju Patnaik International Airport here.
Around 180 passengers were onboard the maiden flight to the Gulf.
According to IndiGo’s website, the non-stop flight will depart from Bhubaneswar at 9.35 am IST and land in Abu Dhabi at 12.35 pm local time. The return flight will leave Abu Dhabi at 2.35 am local time, reaching Bhubaneswar by 8.35 am IST. The flight duration will be of about 4 hours and 30 minutes.
With this, Bhubaneswar will be connected to four international destinations: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Singapore, and Bangkok.
“Along with passenger flights, cargo services have also been started. Efforts are being made to ensure that mangoes and vegetables from Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Rayagada and Nuapada, reach the world market. 50 tonnes of amrapalli mangoes were also sent to Abu Dhabi today,” the CM said.
Majhi informed that direct flight from Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam will also resume after a few hours. “Our government is strengthening the infrastructure, driving development faster. Industrialisation has grown under our government,” he said.
The CM further stated that the B-MAAN initiative has enhanced air connectivity, with Bhubaneswar now linked by flights to Goa, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Hindon, Port Blair, and Dehradun. Additionally, Jharsuguda has new flight connections to Hyderabad, Raipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Indore.
Majhi that people from Visakhapatnam and Kolkata are travelling to Kolkata to board flight from Bhubaneswar. “Efforts are on to convert Biju Patnaik International airport into a hub of IndiGo,” he added.
