(Thanks to Future Berhampur for the link.)

This is an welcome news. My guess is that if proper efforts are made then the situation with respect to air connectivity in Odisha could be as follows:

  • Bhubaneswar airport would have a few international flights, better connectivity to big cities across India and small planes flying to nearby smaller airports.
  • Jharsuguda airport would have flights to several cities in India.
  • Airports in Rourkela, Berhampur, Jeypore and Rasgovindpur would have small planes (20-40 seaters) flying mainly to nearby larger airports.
  • The locations mentioned above matches with the Tier 1 and 2 areas mentioned in the orissa2020 site.
  • In the next tier will be airports at Angul, Therubali, Utkela (Kalahandi) and others. (See the list of airstrips in Odisha here.) I think because of the industries Angul and Therubali will be the leading contenders.