Work on new airport terminal soon

The construction work of the Rs 144 crore new domestic terminal of the Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar is likely to start soon.

Being set up as a part of the upgradation plan for 35 non-metro airports of the country, the new terminal will have a capacity to handle 800 passengers, which includes 400 incoming and 400 outgoing passengers.

Once the construction of the new domestic terminal is completed, this will be converted to international terminal. This was indicated by V K Agarwal, chairman of Airport Authority of India (AAI) during his discussion with the Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik in the state secretariat yesterday.

AAI intends to develop Bhubaneswar Airport into an international airport by 2010. Post-modernization it would sustain the traffic for another 20 years as the infrastructure so created could handle 30 aircraft per hour.

On the other hand, the development of the Jharsuguda airport as a private airport also figured in the discussion. With the chief minister assuring all possible assistance to develop the Jharsuguda Airport, the AAI chief was reportedly hopeful about the future of this airstrip.

Considering the location of the proposed airport and surge of industrial activities in that area, the state government is very keen to develop and upgrade Jharsuguda Airport. The chief minister has assured the infrastructural support for the airport which is expected to cost about Rs 25 crore. Official sources said, the Jharsuguda airstrip will be renovated first to make it fit for landing of small 15-30 seater ATR aircrafts. In the second phase, the government proposes to develop this airport as the second full fledged airport of the state.

While most of the developed states have their second airport, Orissa lacks one.

Since Jharsuguda is fast emerging as an industrial hub, commissioning of an airport there will further boost the investment climate in that area. However, AAI is yet to be handed over 800 acres of land which it had sought from the state government to build the airport there, sources added.