ROURKELA: The SAIL and Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed an extended agreement to streamline operations of the Rourkela airport as a stop-gap arrangement.
Under the agreement signed five days ago, the AAI will continue to act as the operations and maintenance (O&M) partner for the airport owned by the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). However, the interim cost of around `3.72 crore a year will be borne by the Odisha government. Reliable sources said once the AAI takes over the airport, the state government will replace SAIL as a party to the agreement.
Earlier, the three-year O&M agreement between SAIL and AAI, under which the latter was operating the airport with RSP bearing the interim cost, ended in October 2025. The RSP was reluctant to extend the agreement further but later expressed its willingness to hand over the airport to AAI.
At the request of the state government, RSP in March this year agreed to sign an O&M agreement with AAI for a maximum period of 12 months or until the takeover of the airport by AAI, whichever was earlier. Incidentally, the AAI had been operating the airport as an O&M partner since November 2025 at the request of the state government.
On July 11, SAIL had resolved to hand over the airport to AAI and provide additional land to the state government for its expansion.
RN Pali MLA Durga Charan Tanti said the extended agreement was essential for ensuring efficient operations at the airport and strengthening regional connectivity. He hoped the transfer of the airport to AAI would be expedited and its expansion would take shape once the takeover was completed.
The MLA said efforts are also underway to restore commercial flight services to the city until the expansion is completed. He had spoken to Alliance Air authorities about restoring services using its ATR-72 aircraft. The airline authorities informed him that all three ATR-72 aircraft were undergoing annual repair and maintenance. They assured him that one ATR-72 aircraft would operate on the Rourkela-Bhubaneswar and Rourkela-Kolkata routes from October, Tanti added.
Meanwhile, RSP sources said the process of surrendering additional land for the airport’s expansion would begin once a formal demand is received from the state government.