Report by IED bureau, Bhubaneswar: Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ajit Singh will inaugurate and dedicate the new domestic terminal building of Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar to the Nation wherein Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, Governor of Odisha will be the Chief Guest and Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha will preside over the function.  

Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar is the only operational airport in the State of Odisha.  The city is one of the fastest growing cities in the country having number of software companies, industries and educational institutes.  AAI keeping in view the boost in economic development in the region in general and in the State of Odisha in particular decided to modernize the domestic terminal at Biju Patnaik Airport.  

This will surely attract more and more tourists to the City of Temples.   Bhubaneswar is the place where “Orissan style” temples got evolved, thousand years back, and over a period of time it got culminated to its fullest style.

Bhubaneswar forms an integral link to the Golden-Triangle that incorporates the Holy City of Puri and Konark, for the tourists that flock to pay their homage to the religious, cultural and natural wonders that surround the Bhubaneswar city.

The New Domestic Terminal Building built spread over an area of 18240 sq. mtr. and built at a cost of Rs. 145 crores is a modern Glass & Steel structure, the interiors depict culture of Odisha in the form of stone sculptures, murals, paintings, textile hangings, patchitra, etc. This new state-of-the-art terminal will cater to increase in-flow of tourists to the State and will give boost not only to economy of State rather of the region.

The new terminal building has a capacity to handle 800 passengers at a time (400 arrivals and 400 departures).  The centrally air-conditioned building has a modular design to facilitate future expansion.  The terminal has modern passenger amenities which include In-line compatible baggage handling system, Escalators, Elevators, PA System, Flight Information Display System (FIDS), CCTV for surveillance, CUTE.  

In the second phase, AAI will modify the existing terminal building for international operations, construct a new Technical-cum-Control Tower and extend the runway, when land is made available by the State Government.  

Under the Government of India’s regional connectivity plan, AAI in association with State Government of Odisha is working on operationalization of other non-operational airports in the State for inclusive development and to ensure connectivity to all regions of the State. 

Other Guests of Honour will be KC Venugopal, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Anantha Narayan Jena, Mayor, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Dr. (Prof) P K Patasani, MP(LS) and Ashok Chandra Panda, MLA, Bhubaneswar.   The inauguration of the new terminal building will unfold vista of world class experience to the flying populace of the State.