Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged the Civil Aviation ministry to introduce direct flight services between Odisha’s capital city and Surat citing that a sizeable population of non-resident Odias reside in Gujarat.
In a letter to Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, CM Naveen said since there is no direct air connectivity between the cities, lakhs of Odias who have settled and are engaged in Surat face a lot of difficulties while travelling.
‘During the hours of urgent necessity, Odia people living in Surat face untold difficulties in reaching Odisha in time,’ Patnaik stated in the letter adding that people from both the cities visit places of tourist interest in and around these cities every year and so direct air connectivity can boost tourism.
Patnaik urged the Union minister to impress upon Air India and other private airlines to introduce direct flights between both the cities at the earliest.
Presently, airlines including AirAsia India, Air India, GoAir, Indigo and Vistara operate direct flights between the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar and other destinations like Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmadabad and Vishakhapatnam.