Considering that foreign tourists’ visit to Odisha is on the increase, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged the Centre to introduce a direct flight between Bhubaneswar and Dubai.
“Odisha has been witnessing a rise in traffic to various international destinations from the State and vice-versa due to increase in the industrial investments and tourist footfalls. This has attracted various airlines, which have evinced interest to start their international flight operations from the Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar to Dubai. However, restriction on landing rights has been a deterrent for such operations by international airlines,” Patnaik wrote to Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
The Chief Minister’s letter further said, “In the absence of direct flights from the State to other international destinations, the passengers face immense difficulty to go to the desired destination. This can be addressed if air connectivity is established between Bhubaneswar and Dubai.”
“In view of the above, I would request you to impress upon the Air India or any other airlines to introduce direct international flights between Bhubaneswar and Dubai to meet the growing demand of people of Odisha for international travel,” the letter concluded.
Notably, earlier, many private airlines had sought to expand their operations from Bhubaneswar, but it was rejected as there was no decision on increasing Dubai’s bilateral flying rights.