Biju Patnaik Airport here will soon be upgraded to international standard. This was stated by Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary K N Srivastava during his meeting with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Wednesday.
Srivastava said the work for new terminal of the airport will be completed by December second week. The new terminal will become operational by January, 2013, he said.
Srivastava said the proposal to accord international status to Biju Patnaik Airport here will be brought before the Union Cabinet in April next year after completion of all necessary work.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had assured Naveen during their meeting in September that necessary steps are being taken to upgrade the domestic airport to international standard at the earliest.
The Ministry had also stated that it will advise Air India and other domestic airlines to start international operations from Bhubaneswar.
Development of airports at Jharsuguda, Jeypore and Gopalpur were discussed at the Wednesday’s meeting. The Chief Minister raised the issue of restarting air connectivity between Kolkata-Bhubaneswar and Chennai-Bhubaneswar.
Naveen, who had met Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in New Delhi in September, had raised the issue of infrastructure inadequacy in the aviation sector for air connectivity within the State.
Singh had suggested during discussions that Odisha should explore the possibility of developing Jharsuguda airport in public private partnership (PPP) mode.
On development of Gopalpur and Jeypore airstrips, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is expected to take up feasibility studies.
The Chief Minister said there is an urgent need to provide infrastructure support to the aviation sector in the State for ensuring unhindered industrialisation and flow of tourist traffic to Odisha.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister A P Padhi, AAI Chairman V P Agrawal, Commerce and Transport department Secretary G Mathivathanan and senior officials were present.