The long-awaited flight services between the Steel City Rourkela and the City of Joy, Kolkata, started on Wednesday.
As per reports, an aircraft from Kolkata landed at Rourkela at 4.40 pm and took off at 5 pm from the Rourkela Airport to Kolkata via Bhubaneswar.
Rourkela ADM Subhankar Mohapatra said that flight services between Rourkela and Kolkata is a big milestone for Rourkela and the flight operation will gradually increase the scope for national connectivity.
Sunil Koel, president of the Rourkela Chamber of Commerce, said, “We had been demanding flights from Rourkela to Kolkata. It is a welcome step. The existing Bhubaneswar-Rourkela flight was extended to Kolkata. But there is a difference in timings. As I know, they are doing it on an experimental basis.”
Alliance Air has started flight services on the Rourkela-Kolkata route. The ATR-72 aircraft of Alliance Air (AA), which was earlier operating in the Rourkela-Bhubaneswar route, was planning to modify its flight schedule to connect Rourkela with Kolkata via Bhubaneswar. The AA was picked as the Selected Airline Operator (SAO) for the Rourkela-Bhubaneswar route through bidding under the Regional Connectivity Scheme- Udey Desh ka Aam Nagarik (RCS-UDAN).