Jharsuguda: The revenue divisional commissioner (north), DV Swamy, Tuesday reviewed business prospects of the under-construction Jharsuguda airport ahead of its being operational.
Swamy held talks with major industrial firms like Vedanta, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), Orissa Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) during the review meeting.
The airport will be ready for takeoff by January end when flight services under regional connectivity scheme (RCS) of the Centre will be launched and Airbus A-320 will fly from here by April end, Swamy and airport director Manoj Kumar said.
At the meeting, Swamy and Kumar held Air Orissa responsible for the delay in running of flight services under UDAN scheme and frequent change in time for the launch of the service.
However, no official sought to put forth the exact reason behind the delay in flight services.
The airport authorities on the other hand accused WESCO of delaying the electrification work of the airport while asking the power distribution firm to complete the work by February end.
Even though present at the review meeting, the Air Orissa representatives failed to cite the exact reason behind the delay in launching of flight services.
The officials also took stock of running of flight services, availability of necessary passengers, scheduling of flight time and service points during the meeting.
The industrial firm authorities also placed their opinion on linking the flights here with flights plying from Bhubaneswar and Raipur to Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai bound planes.
This could help passengers attend to their work and return to their place.
Demands were also made on regulating the flight schedules so that people can leave during office time for their destinations and return.
Swamy also directed other stakeholders to finish their pending work by January end. Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das, collector Bibhuti Bhushan Pattanik and senior officials of Vedanta Aluminum, MCL and OPGC attended the meeting. PNN
