JHARSUGUDA: The much-awaited direct flights from Jharsuguda to Mumbai and Bengaluru started operating from Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) airport on Tuesday. Two Boeing flights will be run by SpiceJet four days a week. The flight will start from Mumbai at 10.30 am and reach Jharsuguda at 12.30 pm on Tuesdays. It will leave Jharsuguda at 1 pm and land at Bengaluru at 3.10 pm.
Similarly, the flight will start from Bengaluru at 3.45 pm the same day and reach Jharsuguda at 5.40 pm. It will depart from Jharsuguda at 6.10 pm and reach Mumbai at 8.35 pm. On Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, the flight will depart from Mumbai at 9 am and reach VSS airport at 11.10 am. It will leave Jharsuguda at 11.40 pm and reach Bengaluru at 1.50 pm.
Similarly, the flight will leave Bengaluru at 2.30 pm and land at Jharsuguda at 4.40 pm. It will again leave Jharsuguda at 5.10 pm and reach Mumbai at 7.30 pm. The airport authorities have issued the timetable in this regard.Health Minister and Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das, who was present on the occasion, informed that the State government has agreed to provide Rs 100 crore for development of VSS airport. Besides, 155.30 acre of land has been earmarked for the aerodrome.
Apart from Odisha, residents of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand will benefit from the direct air service to both these cities. The VSS airport already has direct flights to Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Raipur and Bhubaneswar. Among others, Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari, his Sundargarh counterpart Jual Oram, Sambalpur MP Nitish Gangadeb, Brajrajnagar MLA Kishore Mohanty, VSS Airport director Kishore Kumar Senapati, Jharsuguda Collector Saroj Samal and SP Bikash Chandra Das were present.