Odisha Gets New Air Connectivity Between Bhubaneswar And Rourkela Ahead Of Hockey World Cup

Ahead of the hockey world cup in Odisha, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has inaugurated a daily flight between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

It is expected to play a vital role in the development of the region. The flight will operate seven days a week and act as an important link between the two cities during the upcoming hockey world cup.

The inauguration took place via video conferencing on 7 January.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Scindia for their support in improving connectivity to the hinterland of Odisha through the UDAN scheme ("Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik").

Patnaik flagged off the service from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.

"Glad to have flagged off the 1st flight to Rourkela Airport," the Chief Minister said in a tweet, adding, "It will boost connectivity, commerce and tourism, fulfilling aspirations of people of the region."

In his inaugural address, Scindia congratulated the residents of both the cities and said there had been unprecedented growth in Indian civil aviation in the last eight years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

There were only 74 airports in the country till 2014; today this number, including heliports and water aerodromes, has increased to 148, which is a 100 per cent increase in eight years.

The Minister further said that before the pandemic a record 420,000 passengers travelled in a single day. That record has now been broken and 450,000 passengers have travelled in a day.

In December 2022, more than 400,000 passengers travelled each day of the month.

In the context of the upcoming hockey world cup, which will take place in these cities of Odisha, Scindia said that earlier the travel time between the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela was nine hours. It will now be reduced to just one hour and 10 minutes by air.