In a big development, which brought joy to the people of Odisha ahead of Diwali, the Union Cabinet has accorded international status to the Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar. It has been a long standing demand of the state government and common people, which was finally fulfilled by the centre.
Apart from Bhubaneswar, Manipur Airport was also accorded the international status, bringing relief to the people of North-East region. The latest announcement will definitely boost the tourism sector in Odisha and allow people to go abroad directly without taking the route of metro cities.
It can be recalled that Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had inaugurated the new domestic terminal of international class at Bhubaneswar Airport, on March 5, 2013. The international fliers may approach the Bhubaneswar Airport officials soon to start the international operations by November end.
Silk Air (Singapore), Fly Dubai (Dubai), Air Sri Lanka (Colombo) and Indigo (Bangkok and Singapore) have already shown their interest to start international operations from Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar. They will have direct flights on a daily basis. The inaugural international flight could be provided by IndiGo to Singapore.
The new domestic terminal was constructed at a cost of Rs 145 crore. It has the capacity to handle 800 passengers at a time. The state government had provided 19 acres of land to AAI for the new terminal.
