Rourkela: All decks have been cleared for the launching of daily flight service from this city in September, a report said.
Rourkela Aerodrome, which had been operating on a private license, would now function under Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) authorities have issued NOC over the issue, it was learnt.
There is no need for MoU between RSP and DGCA for this purpose, RSP DGM Hiralal Mohaptra, who is charge of the airport, said Monday.
According to reports, a delegation including Manoj Kumar of Airport Authority of India visited the air strip here three days ago and made an assessment of the existing infrastructure. The delegation held talks with the RSP officials concerned over the launching of regular flight service. The team had a look at the runway, boundary wall and ATC room and held a meeting on the premises. The delegation collected reports about some shortcomings of the airport.
In order to ensure adequate security, the boundary wall would be up by two feet with addition of barb wire. This apart, a passenger lounge would be put up and a DG set would be set up to provide uninterrupted power supply, a report said.
It is not only the Rourkela airport, Barnapur airport which was under SAIL would also function under DGCA. The civil aviation ministry has decided to launch flight service from these two airports from September this year, it was learnt.
Once the ministry is apprised of the problems, the renovation work would begin, official said. It may be recalled that, daily flight service from Rourkela airport has been a long standing demand of the local MLA, a Union minister, several traders’ union and other organisations of the city.
As the airport was under the control of RSP, its innovation for daily flights was not possible. With the airport now coming under the control of DGCA, there is no bottleneck in launching of daily flight service, said a member of the delegation. PNN
