Bhubaneswar: AirAsia, Friday, announced that it will be temporarily suspend its flight between Bhubaneswar and Bangkok from September 25 this year. This is the second operator that has suspended its services on the same route after Air India.
“AirAsia has apprised its decision to suspend their direct flight between Bhubaneswar to Bangkok from September 25. The reasons for suspension are not clear but it is said to be temporary,” said Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) Director, Suresh Chandra Hota.
The Malaysia-based operator was running its flight service thrice a week. However, sources at the BPIA have speculated that the suspension might have been because of lack of passengers from the state resulting in losses to the operator. This could be verified from the fact that 70% of the international passengers at the BPIA are from the departure but only 50% are from the arrival.
“It’s disappointing that they suspended their operations as we always look forward to have more international flights from our airport. The passage from the Capital city to Bangkok was one of the best. Hopefully they will resume their services soon,” Hota added.
The BPIA has only two international flights operating from the airport. Both of them are operated by AirAsia. While Bhubaneswar-Bangkok has been suspended, the Bhubaneswar-Kuala Lumpur is still in operation. Earlier, Air India had operated a flight between the two cities, but the service was stopped in August last year.
Meanwhile, AirAsia had also announced its suspension of flight between Visakhapatnam and Bangkok from September 25.
