Flight operations in Odisha inching back to normal as Covid pandemic eases in India

With a marked dip in Covid-19 pandemic in the country, flight operations are inching back to normalcy in the airports of Odisha.
The VSS airport now has 52 flights in a week. (Representational Image)
The VSS airport now has 52 flights in a week. (Representational Image)

BHUBANESWAR: With a marked dip in Covid-19 pandemic in the country, flight operations are inching back to normalcy in the airports of Odisha. As domestic flight services resumed partially following a two-month-long nationwide total lockdown, Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) recorded a footfall of 9,493 passengers in May last year and has been witnessing an upward trend in travellers since.

The total passenger movement at BPIA in January this year stood at 2,16,557,  including 1,01,986 arrivals and 1,14,571 departures, nearly double the footfall of 64,675 in June last year. During pre-Covid times, the airport used to cater to more than 3 lakh passengers a month. The airport had recorded 66,741 passengers in July, 95,320 in August, 1,44,028 in September, 1,76,487 in October, 1,78, 810 in November and 2,16,069  in December. 

“On an average, 33 flights are operating each day from BPIA with footfall of around 8,000. In normal times, we had over 40 flights with average passenger turnout of 11,000 per day. We expect to reach the number soon,” said a senior BPIA official. Similarly, Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) airport in Jharsuguda witnessed around 20,000 passengers in November and 23,000 in December last year. Last month, it saw 27,125 passengers. Introduction of new flights from BPIA and VSS airports this year to metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru has also given a boost to the number of air travellers in the State. 

While the much-awaited direct flight service between Bhubaneswar and Pune commenced on  January 24, direct flights from Jharsuguda to Mumbai and Bengaluru started operating from January 12. The VSS airport now has 52 flights in a week.

“Flights from Jharsuguda to Bengaluru and Mumbai started under non-regional connectivity  scheme as there was a huge demand for non-stop services to these two cities,” said a senior VSS airport official.  The flight between Jharsuguda and Bengaluru is witnessing a huge rush with over 90 per cent bookings in each trip, and on an average over 100 passengers are travelling to Mumbai in the 189-seater Boeing,” he added.

​Apart from Mumbai and Bengaluru, flights are operating from Jharsuguda to cities like Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Raipur.

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