Bhubaneswar, Jan. 19: Air Odisha's first-ever flight to Sambalpur took off from Biju Patnaik International Airport today in the presence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Airline officials said the flights to Rourkela via Jharsuguda and Jeypore would start from Thursday.
"Our flight service will start from 6.30am and end at 7pm. The first flight will be for Sambalpur and it will return to Bhubaneswar via Jharsuguda. The second flight will connect Bhubaneswar to Jeypore. The third flight will link Rourkela to Bhubaneswar before returning via Jharsuguda," said Air Odisha chairman-cum-managing director Radhakanta Pani.
The private company has a Cessna Caravan aircraft, which has a seating capacity of nine, apart from two pilots.
"One way flights from Bhubaneswar to Sambalpur and Rourkela will take an hour each. The flight from Sambalpur to Jharsuguda will take 10 minutes. The journey from Bhubaneswar to Jeypore will take 90 minutes," said an Air Odisha official.
The private company has hired six pilots.
The service would be available six days a week except Sundays, which would be reserved for maintenance of the aircraft. The price of the tickets ranges from Rs 2,499 to Rs 5,500. "The charges would vary on the principle of first-come, first-serve basis. The airfare would be modified according to the market situation," said Pani, adding that apart from the airport counter, passengers could book tickets online.
Last December, the director-general of civil aviation had given permission to private airlines to start intra-state commercial flights. The operator had also conducted a trial run the same month. An Air Odisha official said they have roped in around 25 employees, including one engineer, at each destination for ground operations.
Airport director Sharad Kumar said the flights would be helpful for passengers.
"Flights between Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state has been a long-standing demand of the people of the state," he said.
Passengers said since the service connected two major industrial destinations -Jharsuguda and Rourkela - it would help save a lot of time. "It takes more than 10 hours to reach Jeypore by bus, while the train journey takes more than 12 hours. The flight will take just 90 minutes and save a lot of time," said Sumit Behera, a teacher in Cuttack.
The nine-seater Grand Cessna Caravan 208B, which left Bhubaneswar at 12.35pm, landed at the Jamadarpali airstrip in Sambalpur at 1.35pm.
"Regular flights between the two cities will begin tomorrow," said Pani.
Sambalpur MLA Raseswari Panigrahi, who was on board the first flight to Sambalpur, described it as a historic day. He said: "This flight will play an important role in the development of this region."
"This will benefit a lot of people," said Sambalpur-based trader Milan Khuntia.
Air Odisha promoter S.N. Pani said flights to Rourkela would take some time because of the lack of manpower at the air traffic control in Rourkela. However, Rourkela Chambers of Commerce and Industries president Binod Sharma said: "It is good that steps are being taken to provide air connectivity to C and D class cities."
