"You may use your good office to ask airline operators to operate international flights out of/through the Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said in a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh.
Reminding Singh of the meeting they had held on March 9, Patnaik said: "You had also offered to explore the possibility of connecting Bhubaneswar to Middle-East, South Asian and Sooth East Asian countries."
Stating that the work of the new domestic terminal building complex at Biju Patnaik Airport is nearing completion and is likely to be ready in a month or two, Patnaik said the new terminal building can exclusively handle domestic flights.
The existing terminal building with suitable modification for handling immigration and custom check, can handle international flights, Patnaik said in the letter.