BHUBANESWAR: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday granted licence to Jharsuguda airport to make it the second operational airport in Odisha after the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.
“Second airport of Odisha gets licence today. Happy to inform the licensing of Jharsuguda airport by DGCA. It will pave way for scheduled operations soon to be followed by Rourkela, Jeypore and Utkela to place Odisha on fast track in civil aviation network,” tweeted Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation Ministry, Usha Padhee.
Jharsuguda is one of the five airports in Odisha selected to provide regional flight connectivity under Centre’s flagship ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’ (UDAN) scheme, which also includes Biju Patnaik International Airport. The other airports Utkela (Kalahandi), Jeypore (Koraput) and Rourkela (Sundargarh) are also likely to be given clearances by the Civil Aviation Ministry soon.
The State Government had inked a memorandum of understanding with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on July 30, 2014 to develop Jharsuguda airport with a budget allocation of around `210 crore. The project being jointly developed by AAI and State Government was earlier scheduled for completion by December 2017 but was later deferred till May 2018.