Rourkela: A team of Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials has completed the pre-feasibility study of Rourkela Airport. The team, which arrived Monday, toured the airport site and nearby areas like Sector-13 and the OMFED plant Tuesday. Bimal Bisi, president of Sachetan Nagarika Mancha (SNM), an organisation advocating for development of the airport, stated, “Discussions were held this afternoon at the AAI office in Delhi. Work will begin once the AAI receives both the pre-feasibility and obstacle limitation surface (OLS) survey reports, along with the necessary land from the state government.” The AAI team, which included experts from various departments, assessed the airport’s potential for upgrading to 4C CAT 1 IFR operations.
The team members are VR Toppo, DGM (Civil), SK Bindhani, DGM, CNS, Pravin Unnikrishnan, DGM (ATM-FPD), Abdul Aziz, SM (PLG), Ajaya Kuma, manager, operations, Megha Rohilla, AM, architecture and nodal officer of the project for AAI Suresh Chandra Hota, who earlier worked as the airport manager of Bhubaneswar. The upgrade will enable larger aircraft to land, with plans for an instrument landing system for night operations, a solar panel system, a 250-seat terminal, a convention hall, and a cafeteria lounge.
