The capital of the east Indian state of Odisha, Bhubaneshwar, is set to see its maiden international flights after the state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) last week.
According to a press release, the agreement will see the Malaysian LCC launch regular direct flights between Bhubaneswar and Kuala Lumpur International in the near future.
“We will soon start the operations and the dates will be announced very soon,” Aireen Omar, CEO, Air Asia Group, said.
Among the incentives put forward by government are the lowering of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) to 0% as well as direct subsidization.
Though it was accorded international status in 2013, Bhubaneswar Biju Patnaik International Airport is still only a domestic airport. The ch-aviation routes database shows it is connected to ten other Indian cities - Bengaluru International, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi International, Hyderabad International, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai International, Varanasi, and Vishakhapatnam - via IndiGo Airlines, Air India, GoAir, and Vistara.
