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. 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 continuation.
This Flight Will Fly To Odisha Capital 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.
Flying from this is surely going to be a different experience. There is no air traffic control tower present here and an official shared that this tower is not generally mandatory for any non-scheduled plane, as reported by New Indian Express. If the plan for Biju Patnaik Jayanti works according to their planning, then the scheduled flights will also airstrip will also fly from here.
There Are Further Plans For The Airstrip Too!
The Odisha government is working on this airstrip. The government has requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation for bringing the Rangeilunda airstrip as a part of Udaan and Rural Connectivity schemes. As of now, the ministry made a sanction of ₹50 crores to work on this project. The amount is for redeveloping the airstrip.
Also read: These Are The 22 Cities Under National Smart Cities Mission To Be Ready By March 2023
This airstrip was constructed long back in 1936. Back then the main focus was to help for transporting arms and ammunition during the period of World War II. But the operations continued only for some years and everything came to a halt after India gained independence.
This is not the first time when a flight will be taking off from here. Global Avianautics Limited flew a flight from this airstrip. This flight was of twin engines with 6 passenger seats. 2 were for pilots and 4 for passengers.
Cover Image Courtesy: Facebook/ MY Gopalpur (Image Source- Google Images), Wikimedia Commons