Arunachal: Proposed inauguration of Itanagar Airport postponed to October
The newly-built airport, named after ‘Donyi Polo’ by the Arunachal Government recently, was supposed to be inaugurated on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day on August 15.
ITANAGAR- The wait for the proposed launch of Arunachal Pradesh’s dream project Greenfield Airport at Hollongi near Itanagar gets elongated for another two months.
The newly-built airport, named after ‘Donyi Polo’ by the Arunachal Government recently, was supposed to be inaugurated on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day on August 15.
“The scheduled inauguration of ‘Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar’ has been postponed to the month of October 2022 due to non-receipt of flight schedule from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),” Arunachal Pradesh Civil Aviation Minister Nakap Nalo said on Wednesday.
‘The Minister while talking to reporters said that all the required infrastructures at the airport have been completed.
“All the major civil constructions like the runway, air traffic control (ATC) tower, (interim) terminal building, etc are complete. The Airports Authority of India (AAI has already organized various regulatory authority inspections and has ‘successfully’ conducted flight calibrations and test landing of aircraft last month. Donyi Polo Airport is all set for inauguration,” Nalo said.
“It is learnt that the flight schedules are prepared in the month of October by DGCA…So, we have to wait for it till next October. After inclusion of our airport in flight schedule then we can go for inauguration of the Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar,” he said.
“We are in constant touch with the officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and hope, we will be joining the country’s aviation map soon, the Minister added.
‘As per the standard guidelines, AAI has organized various regulatory authority inspections and has successfully conducted flight calibrations and test landing of aircraft from July 19-23, DGCA inspection on July 27-28 and BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) inspection on August 4, the Department of Civil Aviation has said.
The State Governments in talks with airline operators for the introduction of scheduled ‘commercial flights from Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar to the rest of the country at the earliest, it said.
Built by AAI in an area of 320 hectares, the Itanagar airport with its 2300-metre runway is, suitable for the operations of Airbus-320 type of aircraft. It can accommodate 300 passengers during peak hours with eight check-in counters.
