BHUBANESWAR: The proposal for a second airport in Bhubaneswar has not been cleared yet. However, three sites near Khurda have been identified by the State Government for construction of the new airport. This was informed by Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question from BJD’ Sarojini Hembram. The Ministry of Civil Aviation stated that Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already conducted pre-feasibility study of the sites near Khurda and submitted a report to the State Government for taking necessary steps.
Sinha said, AAI has already initiated the work for construction of a parallel taxi track, extension of the apron and a technical block-cum-control tower at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar for providing better travel experience to the passengers. In 2017, AAI had written to Odisha Government seeking 2,000 acre of land for the proposed airport and accordingly, Khurda district administration had identified three locations - Tangiapada, Malipada and Badasahi. The second airport was envisaged to accommodate wide body aeroplanes like A 380 which cannot land at the existing airstrip due to short runway.
Sinha also informed that Air India was operating 760 international flights per week, including the return flights from the international locations. During the financial year 2017/18, the average seat factor (occupancy) of Air India international flights was 79.7 per cent. Air India suspended its operations from Bhubaneswar to Bangkok and another flight from the city to Bengaluru on July 16. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had flagged off the maiden flight from Bhubaneswar to Bangkok at BPIA here on December 10, 2017. “We will resume the services between Bhubaneswar and Bangkok, Bhubaneswar and Bengaluru in a couple of months, possibly October,” said AI spokesperson.