BHUBANESWAR: Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here is set to get a new terminal and over `900 crore will be spent for the project. The project management consultant has been appointed for the proposed new terminal and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is expected to float the tender for the same within six to seven months, said Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday
Preliminary activities like identifying land for Bhubaneswar’s second airport have already begun near Khurda, Pradhan said after laying the foundation stone of a parallel taxi track and a state-of-the-art building which would connect Terminal 1 (T1) with Terminal 2 (T2) at BPIA. The two projects will be constructed at an expense of over `150 crore.
Chairman, AAI, Guruprasad Mohapatra said currently BPIA can handle air traffic of 12 to 13 flights per hour but after construction of the parallel taxi track about 25 flights can land at the airport in the same time. The airport has 49 scheduled flight operations daily.
Mohapatra also informed that two new aerobridges and eight aircraft parking stands are being constructed at the airport here. After the construction of the new parking stands, about 18 planes can be parked at the airport as against 10 currently.
Apart from this, Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) will be installed at the airport to provide services to aircraft under all-weather conditions. BPIA officials said a Netherlands-based firm will install the system by September this year.
Experts had carried out a survey at the airport in this regard in December last year. A-SMGCS comprises a combination of systems that provide services to aircraft to maintain the required level of safety at airports.