After the DGCA nod to Utkela airport in Kalahandi, an IndiaOne Air aircraft conducted a trial run in the Bhubaneswar-Kalahandi sector on Tuesday ahead of its scheduled launch on August 31.
As per reports, the scheduled flight will take off at 7:15 am from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar and arrive at Utkela airfield at 8:25 am. On its return, the same aircraft will depart from Utkela at 8:50 am and arrive at Bhubaneswar at 10 am.
Its inaugural flight will be flagged off by Union Civil Aviation Minister through virtual mode on August 31, which will be attended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Odisha Commerce and Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu and Kalahandi MP Basanta Panda.
Speaking about the trial run, BPIA Director Prasanna Pradhan said, “The trial run of the aircraft was successful. An introductory fare for the Bhubaneswar-Utkela flight has been set at Rs 999 per passenger. A nine-seater aircraft from IndiaOne Air will operate the service in the sector.”
The Utkela airport received DGCA approval for flight operations on August 7. The airstrip at Utkela, just 20 km from district headquarters in Bhawanipatna, was built in 1962.