Bhubaneswar: The state government in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has planned to start flight operations from Jeypore and Utkela (in Kalahandi) airports by the end of this financial year.
The decks are being cleared to make the two airports in the state operational, revealed a meeting held between the officials of state Transport and Commerce department and MoCA here Saturday. Transport secretary Madhusudan Padhi and MoCA joint secretary Usha Padhee attended the meeting.
“Development of airports at Puri, Rourkela, Utkela and Jeypore was discussed. Air connectivity under UDAN for Jeypore and Utkela will be finalised by @MoCA_GoI and State Govt shortly,” Transport department said in a tweet.
The airports at Jeypore and Utkela are being supported under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme. Formal application to get licence to make these two airports functional will be submitted to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) this month, said a senior officer, who was present at the meeting.
Air Odisha was the first to start flight operations to the locations but had suspended the services in later stage. After that, no one has participated in two to three rounds of bids. Now, the state has received two bids to start flight operations from Jeypore and Utkela, the official said.
Once all the issues are resolved, flight operations will start on three routes; Bhubaneswar-Jeypore, Utkela-Raipur, Utkela-Bhubaneswar. The technical team of DGCA will visit the two airports very soon to see whether all the norms have been complied with to start air operations.
Apart from the two airports, the officials also discussed development of airports at Puri and Rourkela.
According to the official, the Centre will provide 80 per cent of the viability gap funding (VGF) or subsidy to the operator while the state government will bear 20 per cent. Besides, the state government has developed required infrastructure at the proposed airports and will provide other supports like deployment of fire personnel, power and water supply among other facilities.