Bhubaneswar: In view of tourist footfalls from overseas increasing in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged the Centre to introduce a direct flight between Bhubaneswar and Dubai.

“Odisha has been witnessing rise in traffic to various international destinations from the state and vice-versa due to increase in the industrial investments and tourist footfalls. This has attracted various airlines, who have evinced interest to start their international flight operations from Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar to Dubai. However, restriction on landing rights has been a deterrent for such operations by International airlines,” the CM wrote to Union Civil Aviation minister (MoS) Hardeep Singh Puri.

“In the absence of direct flights from the state to other international destinations , the passengers face immense difficulty to go to the desired destination. This can be addressed, if air connectivity is established between Bhubaneswar and Dubai,” the letter read.

“In view of the above , I would  request you to impress upon Air India or any other Airlines to introduce direct international flight between Bhubaneswar and Dubai to meet the growing demand of people of Odisha for international travel, he concluded.

Earlier, many private airlines had sought to expand its footprint in Bhubaneswar which was later rejected as there was no decision on increasing Dubai’s bilateral flying rights.