Bhubaneswar: In the two months since the first Air India flight (AI 078) took off from the Biju Patnaik International Airport with 38 overseas passengers, the airport's international operations have failed miserably in attracting flyers.
On an average, the airport is getting only 30 international passengers daily. Of them, 60% are labourers going to various Gulf countries. On the first day, 38 passengers flew from here for various destinations, the highest so far.
Air India station manager Tapas Kumar Ray said, "Most of the passengers are daily wage earners flying to Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai from New Delhi. Had there been no connecting flight for these destinations, passenger footfall would have been reduced by 60%".
The Biju Patnaik Airport was accorded international status on October 30, 2013. For nearly two years from then, international operations couldn't start. When it finally started, the Centre didn't make provision for direct international flights.
12/09/15 Riyan Ramanath/Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
On an average, the airport is getting only 30 international passengers daily. Of them, 60% are labourers going to various Gulf countries. On the first day, 38 passengers flew from here for various destinations, the highest so far.
Air India station manager Tapas Kumar Ray said, "Most of the passengers are daily wage earners flying to Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai from New Delhi. Had there been no connecting flight for these destinations, passenger footfall would have been reduced by 60%".
The Biju Patnaik Airport was accorded international status on October 30, 2013. For nearly two years from then, international operations couldn't start. When it finally started, the Centre didn't make provision for direct international flights.
12/09/15 Riyan Ramanath/Times of India
