Odisha’s Own! Lady Pilot From State To Fly Back 215 Odias From UAE

Bhubaneswar/Sharjah: Its Raja time in Odisha and the swing, pitha, and the paan in presence of family members evoke feelings that emotionally tug every odia's heart.

Each and every Odia irrespective of where they are would never want to miss such an occasion even though Covid-19 pandemic has taken some sheen out of this most important agrarian festival of Odisha. The nostalgia of the festival must be captivating the minds of as many as 215 prabasi Odias in UAE as they are set to return to Odisha tomorrow after remaining stranded for months amid the COVID-19 shutdown. And to make their homecoming even more special, they are being flown back by none other than a lady pilot from their own state.

Capt. Madhusmita Pattnaik, an Odia pilot working with Air Arabia will operate the special chartered flight carrying the stranded Odias from Sharjah to Bhubaneswar. The flight is scheduled to take off from Sharjah International Airport at 8 am (UAE time) tomorrow (June 14, 2020) and touchdown at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar in the afternoon.

Madhusmita is also excited to return to her home State during such an occasion. Speaking to OTV, Capt Madhusmita Pattnaik said, "Many people will finally be able to return to Odisha all because of help from Odia Society in Dubai. The special direct flight will leave at 8 am UAE time."

Dr Chandra Sekhar Khuntia who spearheaded the initiative for the repatriation of these stranded Odias, informed that several distressed Odias sought help for returning to the Odisha. Later, the Odia Society in UAE with help of the Indian Embassy based in the Gulf country, India’s External Affairs Ministry and the UAE government arranged a chartered flight to repatriate the stranded Odias.