Bhubaneswar: The state government Friday signed an MoU with Malaysia-based airline, AirAsia, for launching of direct flights from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) to Kuala Lumpur.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between state tourism director Nitin Bhanudas Jawale and AirAsia chief executive officer (CEO) Aireen Omar in the presence of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at the Secretariat here. Other senior officials of the airline and the state government were also present.
“History has been scripted with the signing of the MoU. This will be the maiden direct international flight operation from Orissa. Our ancestors used to take the sea route to South East Asian countries. Now, the people will have an option of flying directly to the region,” said Jawale.
“We have reached this place after lot of hard work. As per the agreement, there will be two to three flights per week. The government would provide subsidy, which is also called viability gap funding (VGF), for the purpose. AirAsia was selected after a competitive and transparent bidding process. The flight operation would begin within a few days,” he said.
“We are working in partnership mode to start direct international flights from here. We will announce the date of commencement of direct air connectivity to Malaysia very soon,” said CEO of Air Asia Aireen Omar.
This flight operation will help the people of Orissa to catch outbound flights to other cities of the world from Kuala Lumpur. Besides, it would attract international tourists to Orissa, sources said.
The state government has already reduced VAT (value added tax) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to zero per cent for direct international flights and has decided to provide reasonable VGF in the form of subsidy grant.
Though Malaysia has no direct business links with Orissa, it could be a perfect gateway for travel to China, Japan, Australia and other South-East Asian destinations. Also, tourists intending to come directly to Orissa would not have to come via Calcutta and will be able to save time.
Last year, the state government had allowed the Thai Air Asia to receive subsidy support of `1.70 lakh for every round of trip for starting air services from Bhubaneswar to Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.
This comes three weeks after international cargo handling operations took flight from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) January 27.
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