Bhubaneswar: Adding another feather to its cap, the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar will soon start handling cargo operations. Security clearances for the opening of a domestic cargo terminal have already been obtained and cargo operations will formally begin soon, informed Airport authorities.
According to sources, the old passenger terminal or the Terminal 1 of the Airport will be converted into a domestic cargo terminal. The authorities have already demarcated sections of the terminal to be used for inbound and outbound cargo. Currently, a 200-kilo capacity cargo scanning machine is being operated at the Airport, but with the new cargo terminal the machine capacity will be enhanced to 2000 kilos.
Trial runs at the new cargo terminal are underway and sources expect that operations will begin soon.
“The cargo facilities are completely ready and the trial runs are underway. After settling all the issues encountered during the trial runs, we will soon begin operations,” said Bhubaneswar Airport director R Mahalingam.
Currently, Air India, Indigo, Vistara airlines are offering cargo services along with passenger services. As per data, around 7002 tonne cargo were handled by the Airport in FY 2015-16 as compared to 5950 tonnes in FY 2014-15.