The international airports and custom airports of India
Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Puri, Bringing International Connectivity May 22nd. 2010, 2:40pmAs per the PIB at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55628 dated December, 10
So far, seventeen airports in the country have been accorded “International Status”. These airports are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut, Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Goa, Port Blair and Srinagar. … Some airports are notified as Customs airports which can also cater to international flights. The customs airports are Varanasai, Tiruchirapalli (Trichy), Patna, Mangalore, Lucknow, Gaya, Coimbatore and Pune (civil enclave).
The following map shows the above airports. As one may notice there is a huge part around Odisha, Northern Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh that is not served by an international or customs airport. To serve those regions it is important that international connectivity is brought to Bhubaneswar airport.
May 31st, 2010 at 1:29 am
I dont think improving there is any particular requirement to upgrade Bhubaneswar airport to international status. Though yes I beleive infrastructural facilities should be improved. A 3000 or 3500m runway should come up at Bhubaneswar airport to handle larger aircraft, but only as a secondary diversion airport for Kolkata. This is plainly because having a 2nd international airport just an hour flying time from another major airport is a foolish investment. Instead Bhubaneswar needs to have a flight to Kolkata every hour. And as demand rises this will slowly but surely happen. if you check schedules of airlines, as of now we have 4 50 seater flights to Kolkata everyday, two in the morning and 2 in the night. As of present news, Jet Airways is set to start a larger plane to Bhubaneswar, probably a B737, leavign Kolkata at 10.30 and returnign back from Bhubaneswar at 12noon. Similarly as demand rises, we shall have regular shuttle services to Kolkata. If demand is high enough on international sectors, we can have check in counters of international airlines and emigrations check facilities at Bhubaneswar so that you can directly check in for your inernational flight.
July 4th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Its imperative on Orissa Govt’s part to up the ante of having an international Airport at Bhubaneswar.
Place like Kochi has been given a status of international airport, whereas Orissa which is making progress day in and out or atleast trying to do so has been neglected because of the apathy of Central Govt. The international Airport Status with ultra modern facilities are a must for the State to increase its reach beyond the Seas.
It also goes along with the stature of the State which is second in terms of Growth which is higher than the national average.
Request Mr.Navin Pattnaik to take this issue with Civil Aviation and GOI to see Bhubaneswar develops into a International destination for Tourism, Education, Business.