Newstrack

Greenfield airports in North-East Region

Joy Roy Choudhury - Kolkata

With the objective of operating up to 50 airports/airstrips in the North-Eastern region by the end of the XIth Five Year Plan and providing up to 600 flights per week within the region by using the appropriate type of aircraft; making the required improvements in existing airports / airstrips in a time-bound manner, the North-East Council has directed the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region and other related agencies of the Government of India to proceed expeditiously

Most of the places in the North Eastern region are inaccessible and located in far-flung areas. The road and rail infrastructure is inadequate therefore, air-connectivity is the most viable means of transportation in the region, both for intra-state connectivity and the region's linkage to the mainland.

Keeping this in mind, the Government of India, has accorded top-most priority to development, by setting up 'Greenfield' Airports and opening operation of airstrips in the North-East region, with the objective of operating upto 50 airports / airstrips in the North Eastern region by the end of the XIth Five Year Plan, and providing upto 600 flights per week within the region.

There are a total of 23 airports in the North-Eastern region, out of which 11 are currently operational. These airports are Agartala, Aizawl, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Guwahati, Imphal, Jorhat, Lilabari, Shillong, Silchar and Tezpur. The airport at Lengpui, Aizawl is owned by the State Government. The 12 non-operational airports are Along, Daparizo, Kailashahar, Kamalpur, Khowai, Pasighat, Rupsi, Tezu, Tura, Turial, Ziro and Shella.

The AAI is also planning to develop new 'Greenfield' airports at Cheithu in Nagaland, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh and one at Pakyong near Gangtok in Sikkim, which is estimated to cost Rs 320 crore.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) also has plans to develop two new 'Greenfield' airports at Kokrajhar in Assam and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, as part of its efforts to expand air connectivity to the North-Eastern states.

"The Government of India is laying special emphasis on development of airports in the North-Eastern region, and as per our plan, we are preparing feasibility studies for new airports in Kokrajhar, Tawang," remarked G K Chaukiyal, executive director (Planning), AAI at a recently held conference on Airport Development and Modernisation.

Statistics available with the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern region (DONER), Government of India, indicate that there was a reported growth of 23.4 per cent in aircraft movement in the North-Eastern region (NER) between 2004-05 and 2006-07 and a growth of 40.2 per cent in passenger traffic for the same period.

At present airlines, operating in the region include Indian, Alliance Air, Jet Airways, Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, Spicejet, Jet Lite and Indigo.

There has also been an increase of 17.2 per cent in capacity, both with regard to flights per week and seats deployed between 2006 and 2007. In the case of flights it is 17.2 per cent and for seat deployment it is 18.9 per cent, as per statistics available with DONER.

For the proposed Greenfield airport at Pakyong in Sikkim, it was indicated that the DPR (Detailed Project Report) has been prepared and forwarded to the Planning Commission. The estimated cost of the project is likely to be Rs 320 crore. The Government of Sikkim has been allocated Rs 100 crore by the 12th Finance Commission for development of the airport. The Planning Commission has proposed sharing of cost on 1:1 basis between GBS of Ministry of Civil Aviation and resources from AAI.

For the Cheithu 'Greenfield' Airport in Nagaland, the consultants have submitted the interim report for the techno-economic feasibility study which is under examination by AAI and likely to be finalised soon. The techno-economic feasibility study for the proposed Greenfield airport at Banderdeva site at Itanagar has been prepared.