Union Petroleum and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday wrote to Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu to expedite the process of identification of land and construction works for the proposed new airport near Bhubaneswar as passenger traffic is growing fast at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA).
Besides, he demanded that airports at Rourkela and Jeypore be operationalised soon under the UDAN scheme.
“As many as 3.25 million passengers, both domestic and international, flew from the PBIA in 2017-18 which marks a record year over year growth of 39.4 per cent. Thus, there is an urgent need to set up a new airport at Bhubaneswar,” wrote Pradhan.
He appraised that the process of identifying a suitable piece of land near Khordha is underway for the purpose.
He also suggested for construction of new Terminal (No 3) along with revamping of facilities at the existing two terminals commensurate with the international standards.
Stating that the UDAN scheme has stirred aspirations of air-travelling of thousands of Odias, he urged for early operationalisation of the scheme at Jeypore, Rourkela and Utkela. He appraised that flights from Jharsuguda will commence shortly under the sceme.
He mentioned that increased air connectivity between the key cities of eastern India region will be a game-changer in the region. He suggested for operalisation of of ATR-type flights connecting Bhubaneswar, Jharsugda, Ranchi, Raipur, Kolkata and Vishakhapatnam.
He also requested for commissioning of an airport in Paradip as it is emerging as the economic hub of Odisha with investments in the range of Rs 92,000 crores in various sectors. He reminded that the Paradip Port Trust had committed land for the new aiport at a meeting chaired by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in April this year.
He also sought the Aviation Minister’s personal intervention for construction of a longer runway for landing of big aircrafts at the Jharsuguda Airport.
Pradhan also suggested for using existing private airstrip at Angul, measuring 5,840 ft, for limited passenger flight operations under UDAN 2.
Mentioning that 11,000-ft airstrip was operational at the RAF Amarda Road in Rasagovindpur in Mayurbhanj district during World War II, Pradhan proposed to revamp the airstrip for flights as it is the nearest airport to NSCBIA, Kolkata. The airstrip can also serve as a maintenance bay for flights coming from Kolkata given the tremendous at the NSCBIA.
Noting that major airline operators in India are in the process of procuring 800-900 new aircrafts in the next two-three years, he urged Prabhu to make Bhubaneswar a hub for flights connecting South-East Asia with the Indian sub-continent. He demanded for setting up ancillary industries like maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) units, airline kkilling institutes, flight kitchens, parking bays in the proposed new airport in Bhubaneswar.