Bhubaneswar: The Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar is expected to be fully functional and declared as an operational airport by April or May 2018, said Guru Prasad Mohapatra, chairman of Airport Authority of India (AAI).
Talking to media persons soon after his arrival at the city airport from New Delhi today, Mohapatra said be it a domestic flight or international flight, resumption of flight service is the lookout of the concerned airlines. Under its hub and spoke model, the Air India at present conducts passengers, customs and immigrating checking at the old terminal of the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar for its international fights.
Talking about the development of the city airport, Mohapatra said the Government of India has relaxed international flight regulations. “AAI has collaboration with the state governments which have provided land and financial assistance. Initially, there were problems in the resumption of work. But now the work is going on smoothly. We are expecting that by April and May, 2018, the Biju Patnaik International Airport will be fully functional and declared as an operational airport,” Mohapatra said.
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As per the Hub and Spoke policy, metros like Delhi and Mumbai are used as hubs. The spoke-hub distribution paradigm (or model or network) is a system of connections arranged like a wire wheel, in which all traffic moves along spokes (smaller cities) connected to the hub at the centre.
Notably, the Home ministry has red flagged the ambitious plan of Air India connecting several tier-II cities like Bhubaneswar, Amritsar, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Panaji and Varanasi after finding security risks in its hub-and-spoke policy.
Under the Hub and Spoke facility, international passengers are required to clear immigration and security at the boarding airport but no check is done at the last port of exit. Since such flights also carry domestic passengers, who get off at Delhi and Mumbai, there is a risk that someone, who is wanted by the police, can leave the country by exchanging boarding passes with someone who may have a pass for the international trip.