SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Jan 31: With the inauguration of Jamshedpur airport on Tuesday, the number of commercial flight services in Jharkhand has increased to three, along with Ranchi and Deoghar. After Jamshedpur, Bokaro Airport is preparing to start commercial operations in June this year.
Local authorities of Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) and Airport Authority of India (AAI), who are monitoring the construction of Bokaro airport, said that if all goes well, Bokaro airport, the fourth airport in Jharkhand, would begin commercial operations from June.
Commercial operations at Bokaro airport would start in the first phase with flight services to Bokaro-Patna and Bokaro- Kolkata. The people of Dhanbad, Giridih, Hazaribagh, Ramgarh and Koderma would immensely get benefit from the start of commercial flight services in Bokaro.
At present, people from the above districts have to go to either Ranchi, Deoghar or Durgapur of West Bengal for flight services. But, now they would get flight service in just one hour drive to Bokaro.
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Moreover, the preparations for starting commercial flights from Bokaro airport have been intensified after the second MoU was signed between Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Airport Authority of India (AAI) in New Delhi on January 5, said the officials.
Sail Executive Director Personnel Amit Srivastava and AAI Executive Director Nadiminti Venkata Subbarayudu have signed an operation and management agreement to enable commercial operations from Bokaro airport.
Earlier, SAIL and AAI had signed an agreement in 2018 to commercially operate Bokaro airport, which expired in 2021. Due to Covid, construction work was halted abruptly.
Officials said all work at Bokaro airport has been completed, including runways, airport lounge security systems, CCTV, boundary walls, and towers. After cutting down some trees, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would call for a final inspection to begin the commercial operations.
