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City to have direct flight to Abu Dhabi in June

City to have direct flight to Abu Dhabi in June

Time of India08-05-2025
Bhubaneswar: To enhance international connectivity and boost tourism and trade, Bhubaneswar is set to commence direct flights to Abu Dhabi from June under the Building Management of Aviation Assets and Network (B-MAAN) initiative, announced the chief minister's office on Thursday.IndiGo will operate these direct flight services to the Gulf thrice a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
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The final date for commencement of this flight service will be announced soon, sources said."From June 2025, Bhubaneswar will take flight to Abu Dhabi under the B-MAAN initiative—powered by the transformative New Destination Policy. A major stride toward connecting Odisha with the world—boosting tourism, trade, and global prospects for a Viksit Odisha," posted the CMO on X, thanking PM Modi for it.With this announcement, Bhubaneswar is now connected with five international destinations through flights. These are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Bangkok. Currently, the
operates flights to 20 Indian cities.
Earlier on May 6, the CMO announced the commencement of daily flights between Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam. According to the CMO, this service will also commence from June.The city airport is currently undergoing a significant expansion plan to handle the growing need of both domestic and international travellers. Construction of the third terminal was announced earlier this year to handle the load.The city airport currently has two terminals — Terminal I and Terminal II — for handling domestic and international passengers respectively.
These terminals witness an annual footfall of about 50 lakh passengers, which will increase to 80 lakh after the grounding of the third terminal.Beginning this year, Bhubaneswar increased its connectivity with a number of Indian cities through flight services. In January, the city got connected with Indore, Dehradun, Lucknow, Jaipur and Kochi."The city is attracting a lot of people, including tourists and professionals. The connectivity is sure to grow, but the govt needs to plan expansion of the airport meticulously since the facility is very near to the city, unlike others," said Akash Gupta, a frequent flyer.
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