Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday flagged off the intra-State flight service offered by chartered carrier Air Odisha connecting three destinations in the State.
On its inaugural journey, the carrier took off to Sambalpur from the Biju Patnaik International Airport here and returned to Bhubaneswar via Jharsuguda. The inauguration ceremony was held at the hangar of the old terminal of the airport at 11.15 am. The Air Odisha Aviation Pvt ltd would begin its service to Jeypore, Rourkela and Jharsuguda from Thursday, sources said.
The Bhubaneswar-based airlines’ nine-seater plane has a capacity to fly 11 passengers, including a pilot and copilot.
Earlier, the airlines had conducted trial runs to four cities, Sambalpur, Jeypore, Jharsuguda and Rourkela.
The service would be available six days a week except on Sundays. The private carrier is offering tickets for as low as `2,499 for its inaugural flights.