Alliance Air to resume Rourkela flight services in October

Alliance Air is expected to resume its 72-seater ATR-72 aircraft operations on the Rourkela-Bhubaneswar and Rourkela-Kolkata routes starting in October. This follows a 14-month hiatus that began in mid-2025. The resumption is currently subject to final negotiations between the airline and the Odisha government regarding Viability Gap Funding (VGF).

During the service gap, the Rourkela-Bhubaneswar sector was served by nine-seater aircraft operated by IndiaOne Air as a state-backed interim measure. The return of Alliance Air's larger aircraft is intended to significantly increase passenger capacity for both sectors.

In a separate but related development, the ownership of Rourkela Airport is slated to transfer from the Rourkela Steel Plant (a unit of SAIL) to the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The SAIL board has approved the transfer and the allocation of additional land for airport expansion. The proposal is expected to be presented to the Union Cabinet by the Ministry of Steel for final clearance.