AAI plans Rs 100cr for 11 new aircraft bays in city airport

Bhubaneswar: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will construct as many as 11 new aircraft bays at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here. This was revealed by AAI chairman Guru Prasad Mohapatra here on Friday.

“We have plans to build 11 new aircraft bays here at a cost of Rs 100 crore. This will help the airport manage parking of the flights,” Mohapatra said.

The official who was here to review the progress of construction at Jharsuguda airport said a parallel taxi track (PTT) will also be constructed to avoid traffic congestion. Besides reducing air traffic congestion and saving fuel for airlines, the PTT will help the air traffic control minimize the risk involved due to bunching of traffic by airlines, the official stated.

With the new PTT, the runway occupancy time will drastically reduce by several minutes.

Informing about the progress of construction at Jharsuguda airport, Mohapatra stated that it will be functional by June 2018.

“The construction (of Jharsuguda airport) would be over by June 2018 and we are hoping to make it functional by that time only,” he said.

The airport will have two aircraft terminals with facilities for the landing of Airbus A320, he maintained. Notably the Centre has cleared AAI’s proposal to invest Rs 200 crore in the Jharsuguda airport.