Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Arunachal Pradesh’s first greenfield airport, Donyi Polo Airport in Itanagar, on Saturday, boosting connectivity, trade & tourism in Arunachal Pradesh.
According to the official statement, the terminal has been constructed approximately for ₹955 crores with an area of 4100 sqm and has a peak handling capacity of 200 passengers per hour. The Donyi Polo Airport was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on the 19th of November at Hollongi in Itanagar.
The airport at Hollongi is 15 km from the capital city of Itanagar. This greenfield project will link the border state with other Indian Cities with commercial flights and other parts of Arunachal Pradesh through helicopter services. After seeking an airport for the capital for a long time, the locals recently got access to it. The plan bloomed in 2005, but it was in February 2019 that PM Modi laid the foundation stone. The AAI (Airport Authority of India) completed the project despite the covid pandemic.
This airport can handle 300 passengers during peak hours and is equipped for all weather conditions. Its 2.3Km runway will allow Airbus, A320, and Boeing 737s to operate from here. The airport terminal is a modern building that promotes energy efficiency, renewable energy, and the recycling of resources. In a short span of 8 years, the Modi government has built seven airports in the North-East.
The name reflects the traditional and rich cultural heritage of Arunachal Pradesh and its age-old indigenous reverence of the sun (Donyi) and moon (Polo). The runway will be suitable for landing and take-off of Boeing 747, one of the largest passenger aircraft. Indigo Airlines has successfully test-landed its aircraft at the newly built project.
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This project launching connectivity and energy infrastructure projects in Arunachal Pradesh has led to a new dawn of development for the Northeast. The government committed to development is taking it to new heights – PM Modi said. He also mentioned that the time for obstacles and delays is over as the government is planning the developments for a better India. And this development is launched with the project, challenging the opposite parties.
Flights connecting Hollongi, which is around 15 km from Itanagar, with Mumbai and Kolkata will operate daily barring Wednesday. A weekly flight service connecting Hollongi with Kolkata on Wednesdays will begin on December 3, the chief strategy and revenue officer of IndiGo, Sanjay Kumar had said recently. Meanwhile, the Centre, in March this year, accorded in-principle approval for setting up 21 Greenfield Airports across the country- Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Sindhudurg, and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Bijapur, Hassan, Kalaburagi and Shimoga in Karnataka, Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, Kushinagar and Jewar (Noida) in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat, Karaikal in Puducherry, Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram, and Orvakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala and Hollongi (Itanagar) in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation also launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) in October 2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable to the masses.
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