Daily flight service from Rourkela soon

Rourkela: The work for launch of the much awaited air services from Rourkela is now going on in a full swing. If everything goes as per plan, the daily flight service from Rourkela to Bhubaneswar and Kolkata will be launched from January, 2018, official sources said.

The work for the construction of boundary wall and terminal building is nearing completion and a team of Airport Authority of India (AAI) had reviewed the work at Rourkela aerodrome recently.

The flight services will be launched under 'Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik' (UDAN) scheme and we are happy that Rourkela was included in the project, said BJP MLA Dilip Ray.

As per plans, Air Odisha will offer flight connectivity to Bhubaneswar while Air Deccan will provide services to Kolkata from Rourkela.

On the other hand, Jeypore airstrip is also likely to start daily flight operations from March next year with small 18-seater aircrafts.

Odisha government’s two member team had also conducted a review of the existing infrastructure for the expansion of the airstrip and already the work for land acquisition has been completed.

“As space at Jeypore airstrip is not adequate for operating normal aircrafts. We are trying for expansion of the airstrip by March next year,” said secretary, GA department Ashok Meena.