Direct flights from Bhubaneswar to Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok in the offing

Bhubaneswar: With decline of Covid-19 fury, Odisha Government is mulling over a plan to commence direct flight services from Bhubaneswar to international destinations like Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.

In view of international flight operations from other states following sharp fall in daily Covid cases across the country, the state government wants to start international flights from Bhubaneswar encouraging the aviation firms to launch flight services for Odias residing overseas.

In this regard, Odisha Transport Department has invited a tender for direct flight operations from Bhubaneswar to Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok. While the tenders have been invited from authorised aviation companies, the state government has reportedly agreed to provide various incentives.

Official source said that Odisha has achieved a lot in fields of education, industry, Information & Technology, sports and tourism etc. As many people from Odisha are staying abroad, the state government is always ready to promote various modes of transport including air service.

“There is a need for direct flights from Bhubaneswar to Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok. In order to promote flight operations, the state government has completely waived the VAT on aviation fuel and is also providing Viability Gap Funding to support the projects. As per the general terms and condition of tender, the interested aviation company will use aircraft with 70 or more seats. The proposed airlines must operate international flights from Bhubaneswar at least 3 days a week including Sunday. The deadline for submitting tender is fixed for November 28,” an official said.

Worth mentioning that AirAsia has suspended its flight operation between Bhubaneswar and Malaysia since Covid pandemic. Although, the Centre has allowed for international flight operations following removal of Covid restrictions, the international flight service from Bhubaneswar is yet to resume.

Similarly, proposal on launching flights to Dubai and Bangkok from Bhubaneswar is yet to receive green signal from the Centre as well as the authorised firms. Even as there were proposals for direct flights to Qatar and Abu Dhabi, there has been no progress in this regard.