BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday flagged off a direct flight between Bhubaneswar and Jeypore from the Biju Patnaik International Airport here. Ahmedabad-based IndiaOne Air will operate the nine-seater flight under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme.
The flight will depart from Bhubaneswar airport at 11.35 am daily and reach Jeypore at 1.20 pm. On the return journey, it will take off from Jeypore airport at 4.05 pm and touch down in Bhubaneswar at 5.50 pm. The introductory fare of Rs 999 will be available till November 9. The daily flight between the state capital and Jeypore will cut down the travel time to 1.45 hours. The service will be available six days a week.
The chief minister’s office said that commencement of flight operations will give boost to connectivity, commerce and tourism, fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the region. Jeypore airport became the first state-owned airport to get a licence from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), allowing commercial flight operations, on October 20.
The airstrip at Jeypore was constructed in 1962 along with the establishment of a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) factory at nearby Sunabeda area. In the 1980s, Vayudoot operated a daily Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam flight via Jeypore. It was upgraded to an airport under the UDAN scheme in 2017.