Bhubaneswar: Commercial flight services from Jeypore airstrip in Koraput district and Rangeilunda airstrip in Ganjam district will start soon, Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera informed on Friday.
Speaking to the mediapersons, the minister said that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given the go-ahead to the proposal and the planning is in the final phase.
In the first phase, flights will operate on Jeypore-Vizag and Rangeilunda-Vizag routes, he said, adding that it is an initiative of the Odisha government and not under the UDAN scheme.
“Both the Jeypore airstrip and Rangeilunda airstrip are ready,” he maintained.
Behera further said that private players keen to fly on these routes will be contacted. “The government will bear all infrastructure expenses for running the flights, including the cost of operation of the airstrips,” he added.
On July 28, Chief Secretary Suresh Mohapatra reviewed the airport expansion work at Jeypore. “The work on the airstrip expansion is going on smoothly. Commercial flights to Jeypore are likely to start soon.,” he had said.
The runway was proposed to be expanded from 1,500 metre to 2,300 metre.
With the operationalisation of this airstrip, Jeypore will become the third place in the state to get an airport after Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda.
Incidentally, the Civil Aviation Ministry in 2017 had proposed to include Jeypore airstrip under its flagship UDAN scheme for regional air connectivity.
This apart, unserved and underserved airports and airstrips at Rourkela, Amarda Road (Mayurbhanj), Angul, Barbil (Keonjhar), Birasal (Dhenkanal), Gudari (Rayagada), Hirakud (Sambalpur), Jayakpur (Rayagada), Lanjigarh (Kalahandi), Nuapada, Padampur (Bargarh), Rairangpur (Mayurbhanj), Raisuan (Keonjhar), Rangeilunda (Berhampur in Ganjam district), Sukinda (Jajpur), Therubali (Rayagada), Tusra (Balangir) and Utkela (Kalahandi) in Odisha have been included in the UDAN scheme document.
The minister said efforts are on to expedite the work at Utkela and Rourkela airports.
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