Bhubaneswar: Odisha has got aerodrome licence for another airport with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) giving the go ahead to the one at Jharsuguda on Friday.
It will be the second operational airport in the state after Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.
Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation Ministry, Usha Padhee, took to Twitter to announce the same.
2nd airport of Odisha gets license today. Happy to inform the licensing of Jharsuguda airport today by DGCA. It will pave way for scheduled operations; soon to be followed by Rourkela, Jeypore & Utkela to place Odisha on fast track in civil aviation network. pic.twitter.com/mrqI1yLRTC
— Usha Padhee (@ushapadhee1996) May 4, 2018
Jharsuguda is one of the five airports in Odisha chosen to provide regional flight connectivity under Centre’s flagship ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’ (UDAN) scheme.
In April, a 10-member team, comprising officials from DGCA and Airports Authority of India, had visited Jharsuguda to review infrastructure at the airport for operations under regional connectivity scheme (RCS).
According to sources, the officials had inspected the runway, apron, taxiway and buildings.
The Jharsuguda Airport has been developed with an investment of over Rs 200 crore. It has facility to handle at least 300 passengers per day.
In the first phase, the airport has been developed over 909 acres and 200 more acres will be added to it in the next phase, sources added.