BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday requested the Centre for introduction of direct flight between the Capital city and Pune in Maharashtra.Stating that Bhubaneswar and Pune share a long standing relationship, being two prominent educational and information technology hubs of the country, the Chief Minister said in a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju that many academicians and IT professionals frequently visit both the places.
Tourists from Pune also visit places like Puri, Konark, Chilika near Bhubaneswar while those from Odisha visit Shirdi, Mahabaleswar, Trimbakeswar near Pune, he said and added, “since there is no direct flight between these two cities, the passengers have to take flight via Hyderabad or Mumbai which is costlier as well as time consuming.”“I would, therefore, like to seek your personal intervention in the matter for introduction of direct flights between Bhubaneswar and Pune by Air India or any other private arlines at the earliest,” he said.