Air India to bring foreign destinations closer home

BHUBANESWAR: International operation from the city airport is barely a week away.
Come July 10, Air India will not only use two of its flights to carry international passengers to Delhi but also complete all formalities, including immigration and customs check at the city airport itself. This will make flying to foreign shores easier for city residents.
"From Delhi, the passengers may have to change the airline. But after reaching Delhi, Air India will facilitate shifting of baggage and passengers can directly change the flight without further check-ins," said airport director Sharad Kumar, adding the AI 078 would depart at 2 pm and reach Delhi at 4 pm.
Air India sources said it will convert its domestic flight from Delhi to Bhubaneswar (AI 877) for international operations. The flight number will be changed to AI 077. From Bhubaneswar to Delhi, Air India will run AI 874, which will be renamed as AI 078 for taking international passengers to Delhi.
The Bhubaneswar-bound flight will reach here at 9.05 am. Passengers alighting in Delhi, will be shifted to AI 077 without further immigration and customs checks.
Station manager (Air India) Tapas Ranjan Ray said the passengers won't have to wait at the conveyer belts in Delhi for collecting luggage, as they will automatically be shifted to AI 077 flight.
"Including Air India, passengers travelling to Bhubaneswar can book tickets in any of the 27 international airlines, which are members of the Star Alliance network," Ray said. He added that the arrival and departure timings to and from Bhubaneswar have been decided considering the arrival and departure of international flights from Delhi.
"The arrival will be at the international terminal (T2) here. Then the passengers will exit through the arrival gate of the domestic terminal (T1)," he said, adding that the flight will have a mix of both international and domestic passengers.
Similarly, the AI 078 will take passengers after immigration and customs checks from Bhubaneswar to Delhi before they board international flights.
Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan had promised to start international operations from here on July 10. However, the initial plan of running a direct flight from here to Abu Dhabi did not materialize.
Biju Patnaik became an international airport on October 30, 2013. With annual passenger footfall at Biju Patnaik airport crossing 1.5 million mark in the 2014-15 fiscal, it became a 'major airport'. Any airport that handles 1.5 milion passengers annually is accorded 'major airport' tag.
To woo international players, the state government had recently exempted value Added Tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel for international flights.