The passengers of this route have been facing a lot of hardship due to the cancellation of IC 541 and IC 542 flying on Chennai-Bhubaneswar-Kolkata and Kolkata-Bhubaneswar-Chennai route from 16 May, 2008.
In a letter addressed to the secretary, ministry of civil aviation, Government of India (GoI), Tripathy stated that Chennai is one of the major metropolitan cities of the country. So there is a greater need for connectivity of this metropolitan city with the capital city of Orissa.
Besides, Chennai being a connecting point to Orissa for south India, the withdrawal of these flights has adversely affected the tourist flow, business and common citizens.
Stating that the load factor in this sector has been quite satisfactory, Tripathy stated that there is tremendous potential for growth in the traffic in view of the rapid economic growth taking place in Orissa for last few years.
The growing air traffic in this sector in 2007 compared to the previous year indicated this trend.
Apart from the Kolkata airport, Chennai airport is the nearest point of disembarkation for the international tourists visiting Orissa.
So the cancellation of the flights operating between these two cities has adversely affected the tourist arrival.
In view of these factors, the chief secretary has requested the Union ministry of civil aviation for initiating immediate steps for starting the operation of an Indian Airlines flight on daily basis.
Alternatively, the ministry may introduce hopping flights from Thiruvantapuram via Chennai to Bhubaneswar and from Bangalore via Chennai to Bhubaneswar.
The private airlines may also be requested to operate their flights between Bhubaneswar.
