Travelling by air is going to be more comfortable for passengers in Odisha as a new terminal (T3) is coming up at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here, said Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha here on Sunday.
Addressing a Press conference, Sinha said now Jharsuguda is going to be connected with major cities of the country like New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. It would be a great boon for western Odisha.
Sinha further informed that, as an infrastructural development, the present terminal (T1) at Bhubaneswar Airport is being linked with the old terminal to handle more passengers.
The T3 terminal coming at a cost of Rs 935 crore would expand the capacity of the Bhubaneswar Airport from 30 lakh passengers per annum to 90 lakh per annum. The new terminal would make Bhubaneswar airport future ready with advanced features catering to the needs passengers travelling by air, the Minister said.
He also added that the Ministry would expand the number of aerobridges at the Bhubaneswar airport from four to 11. It is inevitable as traffic at the airport is growing by 40 per cent per year.
A major change in the parking system would be brought at the Bhubaneswar airport, said Sinha. From April 1, private vehicles can avail free drop-off and pick-up facilities and there would be no parking fee, he added
Besides, Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda Airport, the ministry is planning for construction of few more airports in Odisha, said Sinha. While work has progressed a lot at Rourkela and Jeypore airport, Jeypore and Utkela are also in the Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme bidding and flight services would start from there soon, he added.