United Arab Emirates is home to over one lakh Odias. They have long demanded direct air service between Dubai and Bhubaneswar. Naveen Patnaik, the chief minister of Odisha, declared that soon, direct flights will be offered between Bhubaneswar and Dubai. On June 29, Patnaik made this declaration while speaking to the Odia diaspora in Dubai.
In order to provide direct airline services between Dubai and Bhubaneswar, the Odisha government has already moved forward with a viability gap funding (VGF) plan, according to the chief minister’s private secretary VK Pandian, who is travelling abroad with Patnaik.
Infrastructure projects that are economically justified but lack the financial sustainability are supported through VGF grants. The chief secretary of Odisha, SC Mohapatra, said that the state will provide subsidies to airlines that fly direct flights from Dubai to Bhubaneswar under the VGF programme.
In that arrangement, the government gives flight operators subsidies for new destinations for a period of three to six months, anticipating that the operations will be profitable during that time.
According to Mohapatra, the government will no longer need to provide subsidies to the airlines once the flight becomes commercially feasible. Two years ago, the programme was launched for international flights from Bhubaneswar to Malaysia and Thailand. Later, internal flights were added, according to government sources.
