MALKANGIRI: The trial run of a nine-seater VT-100 double-engine flight was conducted successfully at Malkangiri airport on Sunday. This comes ahead of the inauguration of Malkangiri airport by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on January 9.After the aircraft landed at Malkangiri airport at around 12.15 pm, it was given a customary water canon salute by fire services personnel.
Malkangiri collector Vishal Singh said the aircraft landed at the airport within one hour and 10 minutes after leaving Bhubaneswar. The double engine nine-seater aircraft to be run between Malkangiri and Bhubaneswar is slightly bigger than the one operating between Jeypore and the state capital. Commercial flight operations will commence after completion of necessary technical formalities.
Sources said in the first phase, the nine-seater aircraft will operate between Malkangiri and Bhubaneswar. Later, larger aircraft will be pressed into service.Situated at Katelguda under Goudaguda panchayat on the outskirts of Malkangiri town, the airport has been built over 94.5 hectare of land for Rs 33 crore.
Authorities of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar have provided technical assistance to make the airport operational.The 1,620 metre long and 30 metre wide runway at Malkangiri is bigger than that of Jeypore airport in Koraput district. The runway can be extended up to three km in future if required.The functioning of the airport is expected to bring rapid economic development in the region.
This is the second significant connectivity project in the district after Gurupriya bridge which was inaugurated by the chief minister in 2018. The bridge has been providing road connectivity between the cut-off areas (Swabhiman Anchal) of the district and the mainland.Officials of the district administration were present during the trial run.