no airport

The long period of inactivity was due to economic and infrastructural reasons. There was a lack of commercial demand, and the basic airstrip was not equipped to handle modern passenger aircraft. It was not closed due to a specific event like an accident or military conversion, but rather was never developed for regular commercial use until recently.

The site has been completely redeveloped and upgraded under the Government of India's regional connectivity scheme, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik). It was officially inaugurated and reopened as Utkela Airport on August 31, 2023. The airport now has a new runway, a modern terminal building, and handles scheduled commercial flights. Its official new identifiers are IATA: UKE and ICAO: VEUK. The identifier IN-0094 is an older, unofficial code from third-party databases for the original airstrip.

The Utkela airstrip was originally constructed during World War II for strategic purposes. In the post-independence era, it was occasionally used for small aircraft carrying government officials and VIPs to the remote Kalahandi region. However, it never hosted any scheduled passenger or cargo operations and remained largely dormant, serving no significant commercial aviation role.

The airport has already reopened. After being selected for development, it successfully commenced commercial operations in August 2023. It currently connects the city of Bhawanipatna and the surrounding Kalahandi district with the state capital, Bhubaneswar, with flights operated by regional airlines like IndiaOne Air.