Recent steps on improving air-connectivity and airport infrastructure in Odisha
Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Puri, Jharsuguda, Khordha, Rourkela, Rourkela- Kansbahal, Sambalpur-Burla-Jharsuguda June 24th. 2011, 1:02pmIn the last couple of days there have been several news items regarding improving the air connectivity and airport infrastructure in Odisha. These include:
- Steps towards improving the current airport in Bhubaneswar.
- Steps towards expediting the Jharsuguda airport.
- Steps towards having air services to two additional airports in the state.
Following are some of the news items and excerpts.
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June 25th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Hope Odisha government will extend more and more attractive packages/benefits to different airline operators to come to BBSR. Presently only 4 different airlines are operating from Bhubaneswar such as Kingfisher, IndiGo, Jet Airways & Air India. Expect Odisha government will invite to other airline operators such as SpiceJet,GoAir and NACIL which are yet to start its operation from BBSR. The market share of Indian carriers as on May 2011 in the domestic aviation market is shown below:
http://dgca.nic.in/reports/MARKET.pdf
Airline/Company % Share
Jet Airways and Jet Lite 26.1%
Kingfisher Airlines 20.0%
IndiGo 19.9%
NACIL 13.2%
SpiceJet 14.2%
GoAir 6.6%
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/tax-concessions-for-air-operators/440346/
Tax concessions for air operators
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar June 25, 2011, 0:43 IST
The Orissa government will soon place a request before the Union ministry of civil aviation for extending air connectivity to at least two more destinations in the state apart from Bhubaneswar.
The state government is ready to provide tax concessions to licensed operators who would provide air connectivity to places like Jharsuguda and Rourkela.
Since Orissa has the potential and requirement for enhanced air connectivity owing to rapid industrialization and bustling economic activity, the state government is prepared to offer the necessary tax concessions to the willing operators.
The decision to have air connectivity in at least two more strategic locations in the state was taken at a meeting on ‘Air Connectivity’ held under the chairmanship of the state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik.
U N Behera, special secretary (general administration), JugalMohapatra, principal secretary (finance), C J Venugopal, chairman and managing director of Industrial Infrastructure and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd (Ipicol) and T Ao, director (tourism) were present on the occasion.
At the meeting, the Chief Secretary emphasized on enhancing air connectivity for promotion of tourism. He instructed the director (tourism) to develop specific projects for popularizing and marketing of Buddhist tourist spots in the state. The possibility of connecting Varanasi with Bhubaneswar was also discussed at the meeting.
It may be noted that non-scheduled air transport operations were introduced between Bhubaneswar and Ganjam.
These operations are expected to boost inbound leisure traffic to the beach resort town of Gopalpur besides proving useful for the corporate travelers.
The state government was also planning to develop the existing airport in the city into an international airport and also upgrade 12 airstrips into airports.
June 26th, 2011 at 7:10 am
According to the latest census Ganjam District has a population of 4 million. And if one takes the adjoining districts which depend on Berhampur city (Like Gajapati, Phulbani and even parts of undivided Koraput) then more than 6 million people depend on Berhampur city. So, an Airport at Berhampur can ensure proper air connectivity for more than half-crore population and therefore will turn out to be a feasible project. Second, some people say that the distance between Berhampur and Bhubaneswar is just 170 kms, but they forget that Berhampur is the gateway to a vast region. For example a person going to Paralakhemundi, Gunupur, Bhanjanagar or Phulbani will have to travel a distance of more than 300 kms from the nearest airport at the Capital. Therefore, it will in the fitness of things if the state government goes ahead with the proposed Airport at Berhampur for speedier development Berhampur and the adjoining southern districts of Orissa. If any city outside the state capital can sustain a domestic airport, then it is undoubtedly the commercial city of Berhampur and therefore air connectivity to this place should be taken up seriously.
June 26th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
@Ajay
I dont think the govt should go out of its way to attract more airline operators to come to BBSR. Let the forces of demand and supply decide how well connected BBSR airport is. And going by the rate at which it is growing, by the time the new terminal is inaugurated I am sure all the major players will be flying to Bhubaneswar.
@Siba Prasad
The question is not only how much population a particular new airport will cater to, but more importantly how much of that population actually can use air transport. Remember, though it has become cheaper, air travel is still by far the costliest mode of transport.
As of now I think Jharsuguda airport, or whatever other location, a new airport around Sambalpur, should be the next new airport for Orissa, from the point of view that that is the area where a large amount of industrial establishments are coming up. This area will be able to attract many business travellers. Berhampur Airport should be next in line.
June 27th, 2011 at 3:52 am
If one takes a survey of the passengers taking flights at Bhubaneswar airport, then at least one-third of them are from Berhampur and districst south of the state capital. Infact, quite few people at Visakhapatnam airport also are from Berhampur and the adjoining Districts. The A.P Government’s demand for making Vizag an International airport clearly mentions that people of Berhampur depend on Vizag Airport. Furthermore, the Army Cantonment at Gopalpur has proposed an airport for its use and they had identified a location near NIST engineering college for that. If that is the case, then the state govt’s job will become even easier. And about how much of population can use air transport, may I inform that the recent charted service between Berhampur-BBSR and Vizag by a pvt operator would have definitely come after a feasibility survey.
June 30th, 2011 at 9:48 am
Well, obviously people from all over Orissa use Bhubaneswar airport. But independently Berhampur airport wont exactly be a very commercially viable project. A few years down the line may be, but not today.
As for a chartered service, remember those planes are only 20-seaters. And different rules apply to scheduled commercial aviation and chartered services.
So spending precious resources as of now for an airport at Berhampur is not prudent in my opinion. As it is Berhampur will be less than 3hours distance from Bhubaneswar by the end of the year. There is still time to open an airport at Berhampur.
July 6th, 2011 at 7:19 am
Refer to the below two links and one can analyze the technical feasibility between BBSR and Vizag Airports !
http://www.aai.aero/allAirports/vizag_tech.jsp
http://www.aai.aero/allAirports/bhubaneshwar_technicalinfo.jsp
Spicejet Airways planning to operate another six services to Visakhapatnam from August-end, the total number of flights would reach to 38.
Also Spicejet service is available at Kolkatta ! Could not understand, why Odisha govt is not invitng for their service, atleast for the route BBSR-Chennai-Cochin / Trivandrum which will be a big hit.
We have raised the issue of remote terminal (with bus service) for the Bhubaneswar airport at Berhampur / Rangeilunda so that passengers can check-in and take a bus to reach the Bhubaneswar airport. (http://airportsbase.org/India/all/Rangeilunda/info) . I guess, above point will not be materialized but soon in near future with the influence of Vizag Airport (as they claim Ganjam is their customer zone for airlines service) this will be success for the Vizag International Airport.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-29/hyderabad/29716919_1_vizag-airport-air-travellers-association-direct-flights
Vizag airport to start 24×7 service
VISAKHAPATNAM: It seems the long-pending demand of the Vizagites could take flight soon as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has, in principle, accepted the proposal of running round-the-clock operations in Visakhapatnam airport, if it handles 40 flights in a day.
With Spicejet Airways planning to operate another six services to Visakhapatnam from August-end, the total number of flights would reach 38. Presently, 32 flights are being operated from the Vizag airport to various destinations. The airport officials claimed that this number was far high when compared to other cities like Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Lucknow and Patna which operate far fewer flights in a day.
Sources said AAI chairman V P Agarawal had given this assurance to some of the public representatives from Vizag. “If the flight numbers cross 40, round-the-clock services at the airport could be a reality soon,” sources said. The airport is under the control of the Indian Navy, which has expressed its inability to run 24-hour operations due to shortage of manpower.
But moves are afoot to have round-the-clock operations with the customs and immigration services already in place at the new terminal building. Spicejet is planning to introduce new services from Vizag to Hyderabad, Tirupati and Bangalore. The airways is already running services to the port city from Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi.
The possibility of international flights landing here could also become a reality with Fly Dubai and Air Arabia Airways evincing interest to operate their services from Vizag. Air Arabia approached the Centre with a plea to operate a daily service from Riyadh. The representatives of Fly Dubai are coming here on July 5 to discuss the plans with the Air Travellers Association of India and Vizag Chamber of Commerce representatives.
“We will highlight the need to operate direct flights to Dubai from here,” ATAI Vizag branch president D Varada Reddy said.
July 7th, 2011 at 2:03 am
I don’t say that the state govt. should put its scarce resources in building a domestic airport at Berhampur; there are several other ways through which the airport can be developed without much burden on the state exchequer. The Army establishment at Gopalpur has been repeatedly asking for land for air facility. Recently the Coast guard has also opened its base in Gopalpur. Two private ports are coming up close to Gopalpur. The work of the Tata Industrial Park is underway.So, these entities will certainly benefit from air facility and make the airport a reality. Besides that you have a big commercial city in Berhampur and a District with 4 million people to sustain an airport. If the state government can see the future needs of the state capital and plan for an airport keeping in mind the 2030 scenario, is it unfair to ask for a similar perspective plan for Berhampur in terms of air connectivity as the city would be million plus by 2020.
July 11th, 2011 at 3:18 am
SpiceJet is an Airline which primarily concentrates on south India, thus it is not surprising that they have many services from Vizag. Let operations of airlines be regulated by the market. We will get as many flights as we need. If there is demand, I am sure it will be met to the best of the abilities of the airlines.
Similarly, if some operators are showing interest in operating flights to the mid-east from Vizag, good for them. But as of now, who would be willing tot operate an international flight from Bhubaneswar is my question.
Why are we after soothing our ego’s by having an international airport?? The day we need an international status we will get it. Already the airport facilities are being upgraded to handle wide-body aircraft.
August 24th, 2011 at 12:16 am
good morning sir,
from 1st sept 2011 airservice is going to start @ rourkela
n the 1st step they will start sevice to calcutta after that they will proceed to different cities of india according to the demand(poora pakka news)
August 24th, 2011 at 12:34 am
Thats great news. Which airlines?