Monday, December 15, 2014

Naveen urges Centre to include Bhubaneswar airport in aviation policy

Bhubaneswar: Dismayed at non-inclusion of the Bhubaneswar international airport in the draft civil aviation policy, chief minister Naveen Patnaik has urged the Centre to include it in the proposed policy.

“Despite the fact that the Union Cabinet had declared Bhubaneswar as an international airport, the policy does not provide for international airport at Bhubaneswar. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the state government have already spent public money on the construction of an international airport at Bhubaneswar. People in Odisha are dismayed at the exclusion of Bhubaneswar from the list of proposed international airports in the country”, Patnaik wrote in the letter to civil aviation minister A Gajapathi Raju.

“I would strongly urge upon you to include Bhubaneswar in the proposed policy as an international airport in the national interest. I eagerly look forward to a favourable response and for an appropriate amendment in the draft aviation policy”, he suggested. Odisha being a manufacturing, commercial and tourist centre is in need of urgent upgradation of the civil aviation infrastructure, Patnaik said. Private airlines are willing to operate international flights from Bhubaneswar considering its potential. “Bhubaneswar offers congenial facilities at the airport, quick transport, comfortable accommodation and clean ambience in the city. Developing the city as an important airlines hub would create significant business opportunities for everyone and give a new thrust to national development”, he stated.
15/12/14 Business Standard
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