ROURKELA: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has deployed a team at Rourkela airport to conduct the Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) survey. The move is part of the plan for upgradation and expansion of Rourkela airport to Code 4C category for operation of larger aircraft.
The week-long survey was reportedly delayed by a day for some reason and is scheduled to start from Wednesday.
On April 9, the AAI had informed the state Commerce and Transport department about deployment of three survey officials - an associate consultant, senior GIS analyst and GIS analyst - to conduct the OLS survey from April 15 to 22.
Earlier on February 15, the secretary of Commerce and Transport department had written to the AAI chairman about the state government’s proposal to upgrade Rourkela airport to enable 4C CAT 1 IFR operation considering the growth of the steel city. Stating that basic details were worked out by the Directorate of Aviation in this regard, the letter requested the AAI to design a master plan and conduct an OLS survey for which the government would bear the cost.
The proposed master plan envisages expansion of the runway to 2,700 metre in length and 45 metre in width with doppler very high frequency omni range (DVOR) and CAT 1 ILS for operation of big body aircraft like Airbus 320/B737 during day and night.
On March 6, Union Tribal Affairs Minister and Sundargarh MP Jual Oram, Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena held a meeting with senior officials of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) of SAIL, AAI and the district administration to resolve land issues causing hurdles for expansion of the airport.
President of Sachetan Nagarik Manch Bimal Bisi said the OLS survey is essential to pave way for the proposed expansion of Rourkela airport.