New Delhi, 31 August: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, along with Minister of State General (R) Vijay Kumar Singh, inaugurated the Utkela airport and the direct flight between Utkela and Bhubaneswar on Thursday through video conferencing.
Utkela Airport is owned by the Government of Odisha and was developed as a regional airport at a cost of Rs 31.07 crore under the UDAN scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The runway of Utkela Airport has a length of 917 meters and a width of 30 meters. With this, Odisha will now have five airports. Utkela airport and direct flights between Utkela and Bhubaneswar will enhance regional air connectivity, which will play an important role in the economic development of the area. India One has also started flying on this route today.
In his inaugural address, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the Utkela-Bhubaneswar air connectivity will reduce the time taken to travel by road. Till now, it used to take 8 hours to travel by road. Now the distance between Utkela and Bhubaneswar can be covered by air in just one hour and twenty minutes. He said that with the opening of this air route, economic activities in the Kalahandi region would increase and many employment opportunities would be created.
The Civil Aviation Minister said that the central government is working closely with the Odisha government for the development of civil aviation infrastructure in the state. The programme was also attended by MP Sujit Kumar, MP Basant Kumar Panda, Water Resources and Commerce and Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu, Odisha Civil Aviation Secretary Rajeev Bansal, Odisha Principal Secretary Usha Padhi, and India One CEO Arun Kumar Singh.
