Odisha seeks more Central forces for security of night flights at city airport

Bhubaneswar: The State Government on Saturday sought additional Central forces to facilitate operation of more flights and strengthen security  apparatus at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA). In a letter to the Director  General of Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF), Principal Secretary of  Home Department Asit Tripathy has demanded augmentation of CISF strength by 50  personnel. Since Indigo Airlines has proposed to  base two aircraft at the BPIA and is planning an additional flight at night from Bengaluru, the proposal  requires 24- hour operation of the airport, Tripathy said. Besides, additional security would enable late  night and early morning flights from Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru to and from Bhubaneswar, he added.


The State Government  has extended concessional tax of five per cent on aviation fuel and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also waived night parking  charges to encourage more operation of flights from the airport. At present, 20 flights are  operating from BPIA daily. Expecting that the Indigo’s initiatives  would attract other operators to initiate similar schedules to Bhubaneswar, the Home  Secretary has urged the DG of CISF for his personal intervention  and assistance to depute the required security personnel to enable the commencement of the  new flights from August 1 as planned.
To Read the News in Full 03/07/16 Indian Express