AIMING at expanding the aviation network in the Northeast, Government has decided to construct an airport in Sikkim, the state’s first, and identified sites for two more in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, besides permitting a new airline to launch air services in the region.

Airports Authority of India has prepared a detailed project report for construction of a greenfield airport in Sikkim at an estimated cost of Rs 340 crore, while sites for one each near Kohima and Itanagar have been identified for construction of airfields for turboprop ATR-72 operations.

Announcing this at a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry here, Civil Aviation Praful Patel said the number of flights in the region would go up by 49 from the coming winter schedule, including 20 by state-owned Alliance Air and seven each by Jet Airways and Air Sahara. He said the initial no-objection certificate has been granted to M/S Sky King Aviation to operate scheduled air services within the Northeast, while a proposal to grant permission for non-scheduled operations by M/S Surya Air was under consideration, an official spokesperson said.

The Parliamentary Committee members focussed on the urgent need to develop aviation infrastructure in East and Northeast and highlighted a number of issues to increase connectivity. The members were informed that AAI operated and managed 22 airports and civil enclaves in eight states of Northeast and had plans to spend Rs 125 crore in the Tenth Plan to modernise, upgrade and improve the facilities.

In the Eastern region, AAI operates and maintains five airports in Bihar, two in Jharkhand and six in West Bengal, where various works were in progress in most of the operational airports. A sum of Rs 315.45 crore would be spent during the Tenth plan, including Rs 224.20 crore for Kolkata airport. Patel said several projects to develop and augment the Communication Navigation System (CNS) infrastructure were being implemented and more are on the anvil in various parts of the two regions.

Aircraft movement in the Northeast registered a 3.11 per cent increase over the previous year, while passenger traffic and cargo had registered 11.9 and 6.8 per cent growth, respectively. Members of the Committee appreciated the Ministry’s efforts to make air travel accessible to the common man and for all round development of the civil aviation sector.

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