First-Ever Flight Between Bhubaneswar & Rourkela Takes Off From Biju Patnaik Int’l Airport

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the first-ever flight to Rourkela through video conferencing on Saturday.

The 72-seater Alliance Air aircraft was flagged off from Biju Patnaik International Airport by CM Naveen Patnaik.

All preparations were completed for flight operations and the trial run of a plane was undertaken on the airport runway at Rourkela on December 30 last year.

Transport and Commerce Department Principal Secretary Usha Padhee, Chief Minister’s Special Secretary Vineel Krishna and senior Government officers of Sundargarh district were present during the trial run.

Officers also inspected the runway and airport terminal.

After the trial run, Rourkela Additional District Collector Dr Subhankar Mohapatra had informed the media that commercial flights to Rourkela are likely to begin from January 7, 2023.