Two New Airlines to Start Operation in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR:

Two new airlines - one for the domestic and another for the international circuit - are soon going to start operations from Biju Patnaik Airport.

While Go Air will start domestic operations from Bhubaneswar to Mumbai and Bangalore in May, Air Asia is slated to start international operations in March. This was decided during meetings of the representatives of 20 fliers at the AAI Kolkata regional office on January 20.

"The airlines have to seek permission from the ministry of civil aviation to start the operations. We have discussed all modalities including the services to be provided by us to the fliers," said by airport director.

Air Asia will fly to Kuala Lumpur from here. "Both the airlines have Boeing aircraft, which can accommodate more than 150 passengers. Go Air will help us resume services to Bangalore, which was stopped after Jet Airways withdrew in October," said the airport director.

The airport director had written to at least 20 airlines to gather at the regional office of AAI on January 20 to expedite international operations. The representatives of the airlines, who attended the meeting, were from Fly Dubai, Air India, Spice Jet, Thai Airways, Go Air, Indigo, Silk Air, Air Asia (India), Air India Express, Fly Emirates, Air Arabia, Sri Lankan airlines, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Gulf Airlines, Etihad Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Air Costa and ABC Airways.

"The response of the airlines was positive. We expect some more airlines to be interested in running operations from here by February. The reduction of value added tax (VAT) on air turbine fuel (ATF) from 20 per cent to five per cent impressed the airline operators," said an airport official.

Of the 20 airlines invited to the meeting, five will run domestic flights. Among the international carriers, Qatar Airways, Silk Air, Air Arabia and Fly Dubai had evinced interest in starting international operations from Bhubaneswar.
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