Bhubaneswar, June 5 (IANS): Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, on Wednesday commenced two direct flights from Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) Airport in Jharsuguda to Bhubaneswar and Raipur.
The flights were operated under the Centre's aUde Desh Ka Aam Nagrik' (UDAN) scheme, informed VSS Airport director Sudesh Kumar Chouhan.
The first flight of Alliance Air left Biju Patnaik International Airport here at 9.50 am and arrived in Jharsuguda at 11 am. The flight left Jharsuguda at 12 pm and arrived in Bhubaneswar at 1.05 pm.
A total of 72 passengers travelled from Bhubaneswar to Jharsuguda in the first flight while 54 passengers took the return flight from Jharsuguda to Bhubaneswar, said Chouhan.
Another flight operated from Jharsuguda to Raipur in the evening.
Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das,ABargarh MP Suresh Pujari, Brajrajnagar MLA Kishore Mohanty and Joint Secretary to Union Ministry of Civil Aviation Usha Padhee were present on the occasion.
"Jharsuguda gets connected by air to Bhubaneswar and Raipur today. More than 170 routes in India are operational under UDAN providing connectivity to smaller airports. Thanks to participating airlines, Airport Authority of India, State Governments for their wholehearted support," tweeted Padhi.
SpiceJet has already launched flight services from VSS airport to New Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata under the UDAN scheme on March 31 this year.