BHUBANESWAR: At least 46 passengers from the State will fly out to overseas destinations when the international flight operations from Bhubaneswar takes off on Friday.
National carrier Air India (AI) will have 142 passengers on board in its maiden international flight from the City. Of the total passengers, 96 will be domestic flyers while the rest would hop over at Delhi and fly to foreign locations.
AI-077, a domestic aircraft, would land at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) at 1 pm and depart with the flight number AI-078 after an hour from Terminal-2 which has been renovated and rechristened as the international terminal.
“We have 46 international bookings for passengers flying to New York, London, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Muscat, Narita and Singapore. Dubai takes the top position among overseas destination as the number of travellers stands at 12,” AI station manager, BPIA, TK Ray said.
While 46 passengers flying from Bhubaneswar to Delhi would board AI for their onward flights, three passengers would take Jet Airways and Japan Airlines flights for the second leg of their journey, Ray added.
International operations would commence only with the outbound flight from Bhubaneswar, while international arrival through Delhi is scheduled to operate from Saturday.
AI sources said till Thursday evening, the carrier had booked 38 passengers who will be flying from international destinations to Bhubaneswar via Delhi.
Union ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan are scheduled to formally unveil the international operation from the State Capital.