BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has sought the intervention of External Affairs and Civil Aviation Ministries for the evacuation of Odias stranded in the Gulf and other countries.
Writing separately to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Pradhan said he had received representations from Odia persons living abroad requesting for their repatriation directly to Bhubaneswar. Representatives of the Odia community living in GCC countries, United Kingdom, and Sri Lanka have made specific requests to travel back from their respective capital cities to Bhubaneswar directly, he said.
"Since they are in good numbers in these countries, point-to-point direct flights may be arranged from cities like Dubai, Doha, Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain, Colombo, and London to Bhubaneswar, which would also make commercial sense for the airlines," the letter said.
Though domestic flight operations started nationwide from May 25, two months after they were suspended after the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown came into effect, regular international flights are yet to resume.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that 'several factors need to be addressed' before restarting international flights, adding that once the country starts operating 50-60 percent domestic flights, 'ability to resume international operations will also improve.'