Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed his joy on the completion of ATR-72 aircraft's successful trial at Rourkela Airport in Odisha.
"Successful trial landing of ATR-72 aircraft at Rourkela Airport on Friday marks the beginning of a new chapter in regional aviation," Scindia tweeted in Hindi.
He also said that this is a significant step as the commencement of operations from Rourkela airport will start from 7 January ahead of the Hockey World Cup to be held in Bhubaneswar."
"It was a historical day at the backdrop of the commencement of operations likely to take place from 7 January at Rourkela airport ahead of the Hockey World cup to be held in Bhubaneswar," the minister tweeted in Hindi.
The Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 will take place at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar and at the Bisra Munda Stadium in Rourkela from January 13 to 29, 2023.
The Odisha government had in September urged the Centre to enhance flight connectivity to Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) Airport in Jharsuguda and operationalisation of Rourkela Airport.
In a letter Odisha Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra had told Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Rajiv Bansal, "I would like to inform you that, the upcoming FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 is scheduled to be held from 13th to 29th Jan 2023 at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. We are extremely thankful for the steps being taken at your end to make the Rourkela Airport operational at the earliest."
Mohapatra said that access to Rourkela city will be made easier if the air connectivity to Jharsuguda is enhanced.
"As an alternative to Rourkela Airport, the VSS Airport at Jharsuguda is the nearest domestic Airport having connectivity with cities like Kolkata, Raipur Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bhubaneswar. Further, Jharsuguda city is well connected with Rourkela via road as well as railway. Thus, the access to Rourkela city will be made easier if the air connectivity to Jharsuguda is enhanced," he had said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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