Gaya airport. Telegraph picture

Gaya, Sept. 30: The first ever domestic flight service between Gaya and Delhi is all set to take off on Saturday.

The new development will help the Gaya airport appear on the domestic air map of India. The Gaya-Delhi domestic flight is being started by Air India, which will be in addition to the international flight between Gaya and Yangon via Calcutta.

Gaya airport sources said Air India would operate domestic flight among Gaya, Varanasi and Delhi from Saturday. Delhi-Varanasi-Gaya-Delhi flight will operate thrice a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The AI 431 airbus will be arriving in Gaya from Varanasi at 3.55pm and depart for Delhi at 4.45pm. Another Delhi-Gaya-Varanasi-Delhi flight would operate four days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The AI 433 Airbus will be arriving in Gaya from Delhi at 3.40pm and depart for Varanasi at 4.10pm. The airbus will have a capacity of more than 100 passengers.

Apart from the domestic flight between Gaya and Delhi, Air India will also start Yangon-Gaya-Yangon and the Yangon-Gaya-Calcutta flight from Saturday.

The Yangon-Gaya-Yangon flight will fly twice a week — Wednesdays and Saturdays, while the Yangon-Gaya-Calcutta service will fly every Monday and Friday, sources said.

The Yangon-Gaya-Calcutta flight will operate under international-cum-domestic schedule, as after arriving in Gaya from Yangon the flight will then take off for Calcutta.

Other international airways have also announced their flight schedules that will be operated from the Gaya airport.

According to the schedule, Thai Airways would also operate Bangkok-Varanasi-Gaya flight on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The Sri Lanka-based Mihin Lanka would operate Colombo-Gaya-Colombo flight for two days in a week, Saturdays and Sundays.

A large number of foreign tourists visit Bodhgaya, Varanasi, Sarnath and other places on the the Buddhist circuit every year.