Bhubaneswar: Clearing the air over booking of hotels after resumption of domestic flights, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) here clarified that hotels in Capital city will be opened only to facilitate the stay of crew members of different airlines.
In view of resumption of flight services, May 25, hotels in Bhubaneswar were allowed to start operations from May 26. “These hotels can accept bookings only for crew members of various airlines and not open the service for others visiting the city,” said BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary.
While the state civil aviation had prepared a schedule for landing and departure of about 10 domestic flights at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), only five flights were operational on daily basis. Apart from the scheduled domestic flights, three international flights are running between Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Chicago.
Sources at the BPIA said that the airport is receiving about an average of 500 passengers on a daily basis which is set to increase further as more flights become operational. However, the incoming passengers having residence outside Bhubaneswar complained of lack of accommodation facilities in the city amidst shortage of trains and buses.
Taking a note of the crisis, J K Mohanty, chairman of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO), had earlier written to the BMC stating, “We have been getting phone calls for room reservation. As per the circular of ministry of civil aviation the passengers arriving in the international flights have to go in for compulsory paid quarantine in hotels. Therefore, we request you to allow hotels to operate and take passengers who are looking for accommodation.”
However, indicating the rising cases of Covid-19 in the country, the BMC disallowed accommodation of general public in hotels. “We received requests from hotel associations on similar and gave them permission to host only airline crew members. BMC has not yet allowed hotels to open or receive other guests,” Chaudhary said.
