Odisha Govt Starts Process For Commercial Flight Operation From Rourkela Airport

Rourkela: The Odisha government has started the process for the operation of commercial flight from Rourkela.

A high-level meeting in this regard was held in the city on Thursday where principal secretary, Commerce and Transport Madhusudan Padhi, Sundargarh collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, senior officials of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) were present.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Sundargarh collector said the operationalisation of the airport has been delayed as the RSP is yet to provide the required land and infrastructure.

“It was decided that the RSP will provide necessary requirements within 5 months, while the AAI officials will resolve majority of technical issues. Besides, the state government will provide all necessary assistance,” he added.

He said as the flight operation from the Rourkela airstrip will be under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of UDAN (Ude Desh Ki Aam Nagrik), the AAI has sought licence for 72-seater aircraft. “The principal secretary agreed to the request of the AAI with an assurance of completing the formalities at the earliest,” the collector informed.

It may be mentioned that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued licence on January 7 last year for the third airport of the state at Rourkela, while the AAI had signed an MoU with the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) in the same year for operation and management of the airport.