Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the newly constructed Malkangiri Airport on January 9. Ahead of the inauguration, a trial run of a VT-100 aircraft was conducted successfully at the airport on Sunday, sources said.
In the first phase, nine-seater aircraft will operate from the airport while larger aircraft will be pressed into services later. The airport’s runway is 1,500 meter long and 30 meter wide.
Authorities of the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar have provided necessary technical assistance for operationalisation of Malkangiri Airport.
The airport has been constructed on over 94.5 hectares of land at an expenditure of around Rs 33 crore.
The functioning of the airport is expected to bring rapid economic development in the region.
This is the second significant connectivity project in the district after the Gurupriya bridge, which was inaugurated in 2018. The bridge has been providing road connectivity between the cut-off areas of the district (Swabhimana Anchala) and mainland.
