Centre accords international tag to Bhubaneswar airport..... BHUBANESWAR: What was seen as a Diwali gift for the people of Odisha, the Union cabinet on Wednesday accorded international status to the Biju Patnaik airport here. It was a long standing demand of the state government that international flights be started from the airport to help boost the tourism potential of the state. The Union civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh, who had inaugurated the new domestic terminal on March 5 this year, had assured that his ministry would connect Bhubaneswar to the international network. The cabinet decision according international status to the airport came at the right time. We have almost completed the modification work at the old domestic terminal. Now we hope international fliers will approach us to start operations, said airport director Sharad Kumar. Three international fliers, Silk Air (Singapore), Fly Dubai (Dubai) and Indigo (Bangkok), have already evinced interest to start operations. On a rough estimate, at least 180 passengers every day will fly to Bangkok and 150 passengers each to Dubai and Singapore from Bhubaneswar. These will be direct flights, said a senior AAI official. The airport authorities are also hopeful that there would be a 25 per cent increase in air passenger flow to the state with the commencement of international flights. Presently, Odisha is getting a lesser number of foreign tourists. International flights will help increase the figure to about a lakh. Last year, of the total 65,000 foreign tourists who visited the state, only 3,800 came by air, said AAI sources. The AAI has already set up immigration and customs counters at the international terminal. Recently, a dog squad was also commissioned for frisking passengers. The new domestic terminal, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 145 crore, 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.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 01:42:16 +0000
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