New Delhi, May 19 -- Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Sasmit Patra on Tuesday met Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, and submitted a proposal that the existing Rangeilunda airstrip in Ganjam district be developed into a full-fledged commercial airport to be designated as 'Brahmapur Airport'.

In a letter to the Civil Aviation Minister, Sasmit Patra said he has raised the demand for upgradation of Rangeilunda airstrip on several occasions in Parliament, and has been a "long-standing aspiration" of the people of Southern Odisha.

He said that the "citizens from this entire region continue to depend largely upon Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam for commercial air connectivity, resulting in avoidable logistical and developmental disadvant...