Naveen Patnaik chairs meeting to enhance air connectivity in Odisha

A meeting on enhancing air connectivity for Odisha was held in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

The meeting was Chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, where Minister Commerce and Transport, Government of Odisha, Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Arvind Singh, Chairman of Airport Authority of India and other senior officials and CEOs of different Airlines operator were present.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, "Odisha has witnessed rapid growth over the years and made his foothold strong in many areas, including mining, manufacturing, tourism, culture, sports, education and IT. In the last few years the aviation traffic in Odisha has seen immense growth. Though Domestic flight connectivity has seen an improvement."

Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation said, "The purpose of today's meeting was to chalk out an action plan for enhancing air connectivity within the State and other parts of the country and beyond the country."

"The Aviation is a driver of economic growth today if we look at the last five years, Air traffic at Bhubaneswar has seen a growth of 29 per cent against the national average of 17 per cent, which shows Odisha's potential for the aviation sector," he added.

Officials of more than 25 airlines, including Air India, Go Air, SpiceJet, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines among others attended the meeting.

It was informed in the meeting that 14 new flights are planned to/from Odisha. Most of the flights are scheduled to operate between January to Summer 2020. The planned destinations are Kolkata-Jharsuguda, Bhubaneswar-Varanasi, Varanasi-Bhubaneswar, Jharsuguda-Mumbai, Prayagraj-Bhubaneswar, Delhi-Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, Bhubaneswar-Kalaikunda, Bhubaneswar-Bangkok, Bangkok- Bhubaneswar, Singapore-Bhubaneswar and Bhubaneswar-Abu Dhabi.