Bhubaneswar, Sept. 21: The Airports Authority Of India (AAI) has asked the state government to identify land within 20km of the city to set up a new airport, because the existing one cannot be expanded further.

Once on the city outskirts, Biju Patnaik International Airport has now come within the ambit of almost the city centre surrounded by various establishments barring it from further expansion. The facility is barely 3km away from the city centre.

However, the need for airport expansion was felt with the growing demand and future possibilities of the state capital in terms of urbanisation and tourism. Over the time, the airport has gained popularity. This year, it was ranked the 17th busiest airport in India by the AAI. The facility registered a 23.1 per cent growth in traffic over the previous year.

Keeping in view the possibilities, the general administration department has asked the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) to look for 1,500-2,000-acre plot in the vicinity of the city, preferably near Khurda, to develop the new greenfield airport. A greenfield airport is planned in cities, which are not connected by air services at all, or those where the existing facilities face capacity constraints and is unable to expand further to meet the growing demand.

At present, six airlines operate from the Biju Patnaik airport with direct flight services to Bangalore, Calcutta, Ranchi, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam. Besides, AirAsia operates the only international flight from the airport connecting to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur four times a week. The facility is located on 836 acres. Sources said that with the new airport, Bhubaneswar would be equipped to have direct connectivity to other major national and international cities.

The Biju Patnaik airport has two terminals - domestic and international. While the domestic terminal is spread over 18,240sqm and has six gates, the international one is 5,177sqm and has four arrival and departure gates.

There had been a plan to expand the current runway to attract large cargo planes. But, slums are present on the land, where airport expansion had been proposed. The facility required 64 acres for the purpose. However, the administration could not go ahead with the land acquisition process because of local opposition.

'The present airport has no scope for further expansion. The runway is now 2,742 metres and not enough big for large planes such as Boeing 777s and 747s to operate from here. We have plans to equip the new airport to handle those aircraft,' said airport director S.C. Hota.

A department official said the priority would be to identify suitable land for the new airport, which would have the scope of future expansion. 'Idco has been put on the job. It will check the land bank and intimate us, following which we will take steps to develop the new facility,' said the official.

Sources said the AAI was considering development of the new airport in the public-private-partnership mode in line with the one developed in New Delhi. It would ensure timely completion of the project and a world-class airport in Bhubaneswar.

In October 2013, the Centre had accorded international status to the Biju Patnaik airport, which is equipped with facilities for night operations. It also offers an apron area allowing the parking of six aircraft.

The airport was judged The Best Airport in India, based on Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) in 2012 by the AAI and again topped the list in 2013 based on the same parameter. The facility was ranked 33rd Best Airport Worldwide and 6th Best Airport in India, in a survey conducted by the ASI's Airport Service Quality in 2014.

'Though the airport had been accorded the international status in 2013, there is only one international flight operating from here. Bhubaneswar is growing in every manner, and I am sure that with the new airport, it will reach new heights,' said Unit-V resident Umesh Mohanty.