AirAsia to launch two direct flights to Chennai from Odisha capital tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: Buoyed by good response from air travellers, AirAsia has decided to launch two more direct flights to Chennai from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Odisha capital from tomorrow.

Official sources said the first flight will leave BPIA at 11.05 am and reach Chennai at 12.50 pm and will depart from Chennai airport at 7.05 pm and reach Bhubaneswar at 8.45 pm daily.

The second flight of the day will leave Bhubaneswar at 9.15 pm and reach Chennai at 11 pm daily, the source added.

The Malaysia-based low-cost airline, which had launched its service here in April last year, took the decision considering the sharp rise in air traffic from Bhubaneswar.

“Chennai has always been a popular route among passengers. We expect that the two more direct flights on Bhubaneswar-Chennai route will boost religious and cultural tourism from both markets and will also greatly helpful for business persons,” said BPIA director Suresh Chandra Hota.

With this, the total number of flights from Bhubaneswar to Chennai will increase to five, Hota added.

After the successful launch of first direct international flight operation between Bhubaneswar and Kuala Lumpur on April 26 last year, AirAsia has started daily flights between the two destinations from October 26 in the same year.

Another low-cost carrier IndiGo has started two new daily direct flights – one for Bengaluru and another for Chennai from last Thursday.

With these new additions, the total number of flights departing from Bhubaneswar has gone up to 44 and by end of March it is expected to touch 50, Hota said.