Bhubaneswar-Varanasi Flight Services Begin

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to cater to the needs of pilgrims, tourists, students, businessmen and traders, Alliance Air on Friday started daily flight operations from Odisha to Varanasi under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS-UDAN).

Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India has deployed its 70 seater ATR 72 600 aircraft which will operate from Jharsuguda airport to Varanasi via Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar.

“The flight will first fly to Bhubaneswar then to Varanasi. Everybody is optimistic about the new service for air travellers of Odisha,” said Swadesh Chouhan, director of Jharsuguda airport.

The commencement of the Bhubaneswar-Varanasi route marks another milestone achieved by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) with 250th route being made operational under the RCS–UDAN scheme. Recently on January 27, 2020, Alliance Air had started direct daily flight operations on Kolkata-Jharsuguda route under the RCS-UDAN.

Official sources said Alliance Air was awarded the Bhubaneswar-Varanasi route in the UDAN 3 bidding process. The Varanasi route is now fast turning into the most sought after route due to the presence of a large number of temples, ghats of river Ganga and is the most popular tourist destination which attracts both domestic as well as foreign tourists.