Bhubaneswar, April 27: AirAsia's first international flight to Bhubaneswar has left the state government so upbeat that it has urged the airline to start daily service between here and Kuala Lumpur.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik made the proposal today during a meeting with officials of the airline at the state secretariat.

Beginning yesterday, AirAsia is scheduled to fly four times a week between Bhubaneswar and Kuala Lumpur. The flights will arrive here and take off for Kuala Lumpur on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Flight AK 31 from Kuala Lumpur to Bhubaneswar arrived 43 minutes behind schedule last night and landed at 12.08am. The fully-booked return flight AK 30 left for Malaysia at 1.15am.

Stating that the people of Odisha would benefit immensely from the service, Naveen said: "The relentless efforts of the state government made it possible for the international flight operator to start direct international flights from the state capital. The state government will provide all assistance for extension of the flight service on seven days of the week."

The airline officials said they had accepted the proposal and would take a decision in this regard in the near future.

"India is an important market for us and with the launch of the new flight, there will be better connectivity between the two countries. The recent announcement of the multiple-entry e-visa facility valid for 15 days by the Malaysian government is great news for travellers from India. We visualise a steep increase in tourist arrival to Malaysia in the near future. This will facilitate stronger tourism and economic growth in both countries," said AirAsia chief executive officer Aireen Omar.

The government will also provide subsidy to the airline in the form of viability gap funding. The funding is part of the government's effort to support projects that are economically justified but not financially viable.

Sources said the state government would give a subsidy of around Rs 1.8 lakh for each trip to the airline if it carried less than the number of passengers mentioned in the agreement between the two parties. Earlier, the state government had waived the value added tax on aviation turbine fuel for direct international flights from the state.

The new flight opens up a host of opportunities for Odisha as it significantly brings down costs for travellers. Kuala Lumpur International Airport is a hub for the airline, from where AirAsia and its sister airlines operate flights to more than a hundred destinations in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Later this year, AirAsia X, AirAsia's long-haul, low-cost sister airline, will start flights to Honolulu in the Hawaii islands of the US.

AirAsia is a point-to-point carrier, but with the airline's Fly-Thru facility, passengers are able to connect to anywhere within the airline's network with one stop at Kuala Lumpur.<>