Biju Patnaik Jayanti is the birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik. He is the former chief minister of Odisha and his birth anniversary on 5 March is celebrated every year. And on this day, a non-scheduled flight will be taking off from the Rangeilunda airstrip.
The flight leaving from the Rangeilunda airstrip on the outskirts of Berhampur city will be flying to Bhubaneswar. This non-scheduled flight will have only 9 passengers flying inside on 5 March. People are working on the Rangeilunda airstrip terminal in full swing and it is expected that things will be wrapped up by 5 March.
Special arrangements have been made for the departure of this flight as this is a non-scheduled one. Work for this plane is still in the continuing process.
However, the airstrip does not have an air traffic control tower. An official said the tower is not required for non-scheduled flights. He said if everything goes as per plan, in the second phase, scheduled flights will be operated from the airstrip. The state government has urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation to include the airstrip under Udaan and Rural Connectivity schemes.
Usha Padhee, the Principal Secretary of Department of Commerce and Transport, inspected the infrastructure development work yesterday ahead of the take of the flight. She looked around the runway of the airstrip. She also held discussions with the officers of the District Administration, and Berhampur SP and other officials.
In the initial phase, a 10-seater flight will take off from the Rangeilunda airstrip to Bhubaneswar. The airplane will fly to Bhubaneswar twice a week. In view of the demand and needs of the people, a decision will be taken to increase the number of flights and the number of seats in the second and third phase after the land expansion of the airport.
However, the airstrip does not have an air traffic control tower. An official said the tower is not required for non-scheduled flights. He said if everything goes as per plan, in the second phase, scheduled flights will be operated from the airstrip. The state government has urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation to include the airstrip under Udaan and Rural Connectivity schemes.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during his visit to Berhampur in 2012, had given his green signal to convert the airstrip into an airport.
