Odisha: Bhubaneswar-Malkangiri flight service from Sept 3

Bhubaneswar: The flight service between the Odisha capital and Malkangiri will commence on September 3. This was revealed by Malkangiri Collector and District Magistrate (DM) Prathamesh Arvind Rajeshirke on Wednesday. “The direct flight service between Bhubaneswar and Malkangiri is scheduled to begin on September 3. The air connectivity to Malkangiri is likely to boost tourism as well as economic development in the district,” said the Collector in a social media post. The authorities will soon launch a dedicated portal for online ticket booking, he added. It is worth mentioning here that the trial run at Malkangiri Airport was successfully conducted on July 22. A nine-seater aircraft operated by IndiaOne Air landed safely at the airport as part of the trial run. Senior officials from the district administration, Airport Authorities of India and various security agencies were present during the exercise. Developed on 233 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 70 crore, Malkangiri Airport features a 1,602-metre-long and 30-metre-wide runway, built at a cost of around Rs 29 crore. The airport infrastructure has been developed on 106 acres and is designed to accommodate small aircraft, similar to operations at Jeypore Airport in Koraput.