Irregular flight service from Rourkela irks commuters

In less than six months of inauguration, flight services from Rourkela have become a headache for commuters with regularly irregular service.

As per reports, the Air India aircraft that was granted permission by the DGCA to operate from Rourkela airport has become so irregular that the commuters have vented their anger on the government.

“The government had decided to operate scheduled flights not only to Bhubaneswar but to Delhi and Kolkata too. Rourkela has NIT, BPUT, abundant mines, SAIL and cement factory in Rajgangpur, the employees of which depend on flights to commute. But unfortunately, the only flight that operates between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar remains cancelled many times in a week,” said, Bishnu Mohanty, Advisor of the Rourkela Surakhsa Nagarika Committee.

“Apart from the fact that the aircraft makes ten more scheduled stops in several other sectors before coming to Rourkela, the absence of required infrastructure also forces the flight to abort many times due to bad weather. The airport does not have an Instrument Landing System (ILS) to assist in the nighttime landing of the aircraft. We demand the government to take proactive measures and restore regular flight services from and to Rourkela connecting all major cities in India,” he added.

Sunil Kayal, president of the Rourkela Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “Just after the inauguration of the flight service we had met Odisha Chief Secretary and he had assured us that the flight is forever and not only for the Hockey World Cup. But we gradually noticed that the lone flight that connected Bhubaneswar with Rourkela gets cancelled whenever there is bad weather. Passengers from both Bhubaneswar and Rourkela face problems commuting because of this."

Asked about the issues, local MLA, Subrat Tarai assured to take up the matter with the concerned department. “I will visit Bhubaneswar shortly and discuss the matter with the Secretary of Transport and Commerce and the Chief Minister. This air service has begun after a lot of effort and it will not be stopped.”

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the first direct flight to Rourkela from Bhubaneswar through video conferencing on January 7, just days ahead of the Hockey World Cup. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and MP Aparajita Sarangi had flagged off the service.