Bhubaneswar: AirAsia will launch its first direct international flight from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here April 26.
According to the airline sources, the flight (AK 30) from Bhubaneswar to Kuala Lumpur will take off from BPIA at 11:55pm and will reach Kuala Lumpur at 6:20am. Similarly, the flight (AK 31) from the Malaysian Capital to Bhubaneswar will take off at 10:10pm and reach BPIA at 11:25pm.
Currently, AirAsia is having direct flights to Kuala Lumpur from Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Tiruchirappalli and New Delhi. With the addition of Bhubaneswar, the Kuala Lumpur-based airline is trying to expose its potential in eastern India. Experts and top AAI officials said Bhubaneswar to Kuala Lumpur (AK 30) flight will bring more international flyers to the city.
“The international flight from BPIA will reach Kuala Lumpur in the morning which would be very convenient for international passengers, who are having their connecting flights from Kuala Lumpur. Since Southeast Asia is the hub of many international airlines, the international flight from BPIA will bring more international flyers to the Bhubaneswar,” said a top AAI official.
However, passengers of Kuala Lumpur-Bhubaneswar flight (AK-31), who are planning to travel to other destinations of the country, have to spend around five hours at city airport, since BPIA doesn’t have night flight service to major metro cities after 10pm. The first morning flight from BPIA is at 5:40am.
Top AAI officials, however, confirmed that BPIA will have more nighttime operations. “We are already in talks with various airlines for launching more number of flights from BPIA and it will be materialised soon,” said BPIA director R Mahalingam.
Some of the top AAI officials opined that the launch of international flight operations at BPIA will also usher in more domestic operations at the airport.
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