Silk Air all set to launch flights to Singapore from Odisha capital

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Oct 4:

There is good news for air travelers from Odisha intending to visit Singapore: Silk Air has decided to operate flights from Bhubaneswar to Singapore beginning December this year.

A delegation from Silk Air visited Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) to check out the facilities at the airport three days back.

The chief of Silk Air will take a call on launching international air service from BPIA after he visits the airport for an assessment in the third week of this month. .

While the airline has already obtained permission from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, it would soon get the clearance from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). After this, Silk Air will submit a flight schedule to the BPIA authorities. After completing all formalities within the next two months, the airlines will operate flights from BPIA, said Silk Air authorities.

Silk Air plans to operate a 180-seater Airbus A 320 aircraft for the Bhubaneswar-Singapore flight, sources said. There will be 148 seats in the economy class and 42 in the business class while fares can be as low as Rs 10, 000-12, 000 if tickets are booked well in advance.

The flight would leave Bhubaneswar at 10 or 11 pm and would land in Singapore at 5 or 6 am the next morning after a stopover either at Vishkhapatnam or Chennai. Silk Air authorities are planning to make it a feeder flight for passengers arriving in Bhubaneswar from New Delhi through Air India, Indigo and GoAir after evenings, the sources added.

After Kolkata, Bhubaneswar will become the second hub in eastern India for international air passengers visiting countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia with Singapore as the hub.

Notably, Air Asia has already announced the launch of its Bhubaneswar-Kuala Lumpur service from December 15.

According to BPIA director Sharad Kumar, Silk Air had begun preparations to operate flights from Bhubaneswar to Singapore one year ago.

Kumar said Silk Air authorities have expressed satisfaction over the facilities available here during their inspection of the airport. The airline is hopeful of getting good number of international passengers from here, he added.