First international flight from Odisha

Arnab Nandy

Aircraft at Klia2, AirAsia's hub in Kuala Lumpur
Aircraft at Klia2, AirAsia’s hub in Kuala Lumpur

April 26 (TravelAndy): The first international flight will land at and take off today from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar, capital of the east Indian state of Odisha.

“Odisha creates history today. The first direct international flight service commences with arrival of @AirAsia flight AK 31 from KUL to BBI,” Odisha Tourism tweeted through its official handle @odisha_tourism today.

The AirAsia flight will connect Bhubaneswar and Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.

The flight will take off from Kuala Lumpur at 22.10 and reach the Indian city at 23.25. The return flight will leave Bhubaneswar at 23.55 and land at AirAsia’s hub in the Malaysian capital at 07.10 the next day.

Odisha hopes that this flight will be able to give a boost to its fledgling tourism sector. Apart from several sanctuaries and national parks teeming with wildlife, the state has a number of prominent Buddhist sites.