AAI conducts assessment of Bhubaneshwar Airport after withdrawal of cyclone Fani

After the gradual withdrawal of super cyclone Fani from Bhubaneshwar, an assessment was carried out by a team of Airports Authority of India (AAI) at Bhubaneshwar Airport to assess the damage and to decide on the probable resumption of operations on Friday.

Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, AAI conducted a review meeting at 6:30 pm after taking stock of the situation and also issued suitable instructions to all concerned so as to mitigate the shortfalls arising out of the damage.

"The Passenger Terminal Building at Bhubaneshwar has been considerably damaged particularly at the rooftop and facades. The rooftop of ATC Tower has also been blown away, affecting VHF Antennas at the rooftop. Alternate ATC arrangements have been made. Damage to the perimeter wall of the operational area to the extent of 600 meters has also been found at various places. Adequate security arrangements have been made to address this issue," a statement said.

There is also the extensive presence of Foreign Objects & Debris (FOD) all around the operational area which is a potential hazard for the commencement of aircraft operations. Adequate arrangements have been made for removal of the same by tomorrow morning.

Based on the feedback and action taken it was decided that Bhubaneshwar will resume commercial flight operation at 1 pm on May 4.

Cyclone Fani made landfall in the morning of May 3 and wreaked havoc in the state of Odisha taking three lives and leaving more than 160 injured besides causing large scale destruction of property.