Bhubaneswar, Nov. 8: Today onwards, Varanasi is just 90 minutes away from the city, four days a week.

With the first Air India flight from the historic city of Varanasi landing here today, the state has edged nearer to its aim of being connected to the country's Buddhist circuit and attracting tourists, both national and international.

The Airbus 321 that landed in the city at 2pm, took off for Varanasi again at 2.45pm with 40 passengers.

Among the 32 passengers in the first flight to the city were the famous brother-singer duo from the Banaras gharana, Rajan and Sajan Mishra. The duo arrived here to take part in the Spic Macay organised overnight classical music programme, Nirvana, at Sai International School.

Singer Mahaprasad Kar, who was at the arrival lounge to welcome the brothers, said: "The air connectivity between the two cities will not only help promote cultural exchange, but will also provide a great scope to promote tourism as both the cities are famous for their religious tourist spots and their proximity to Buddhist sites."

Saroj Suar, an employee of a Rayagada-based paper manufacturing unit, who had been to Allahabad, about 120km from Varanasi, with his friend, said: "The new service will help those who visit Allahabad and Varanasi on religious trips, especially for performing the last rites of their deceased family members and relatives."

Suar and his friend, who had to encounter several problems on their journey to Allahabad, was elated with his experience of flying back to the city. "Apart from the cost factor, the journey from Koraput via Raipur was time-consuming and tiring, but the return journey was just like a pleasure trip.''

Tourism and culture minister Ashok Chandra Panda, along with senior Odisha Tourism officials, were present at the domestic terminal T1 to welcome the passengers of the first flight with garlands. The officials also distributed leaflets and pamphlets on places of tourist interests in the state, especially the Buddhist heritage sites of Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri, Udayagiri and Langudi.

The tourism minister told The Telegraph: "After the Air India flight from Varanasi, we are also pinning all hopes on the flight from Colombo by Air Lanka. The state already has historic links with Sri Lanka. A flight connection between the two regions will definitely take the promotion of Buddhism and exploration of tourism in Odisha to new heights. We are also hoping to include our Buddhist destinations to the route of Mahaparinirvan Express in future. The train links the major Buddhist sites in the country."

Air India station manager Tapas Ray said: "In the Varanasi-Bhubaneswar flight, there were 32 people and in the return flight 40 seats were booked. We hope the load will increase within a few days. It takes 90 minutes for the flight to reach here from Varanasi. The flight will operate on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday of every week."

Airport director Sharad Kumar said that with the completion of immigration and customs clearances, the city airport is gradually inching towards its dream of having a direct international flight in the near future.