Bhubaneswar, Jan 5: As a bonus addition to its Cargo operation, the Biju Patnaik International Airport is soon going to start its International Cargo handling service and the state government is taking necessary steps for the start of this operation. In April 2016, the airport had begun its domestic cargo operation.
Yesterday, Laxmi Narayan Gupta, Principle Secretary of MSME Department informed that, approval from the necessary departments will be received by the state government very soon. After the Custom Department of the Ministry of Finance approves of the same, the service will start functioning. It is likely to attract international service providers to the airport, stated Ramaswamy Mahalingam, BPIA Director. However, in the starting phase, the operation will be conducted from the domestic cargo centre.
It may be noted that, starting from the month of April, under the domestic cargo service, around 5,000 tons of cargo have been handled at the airport.