In another effort to boost tourism in North East India, the finance ministry has given a go-ahead to Arunachal Pradesh’s Hollongi Airport. By Sushmita Srivastav
Out of all 29 states, Arunachal Pradesh is the only one left without a full-fledged air hub to call its own. But that is soon going to change, now that the Ministry of Finance has declared its approval on Hollongi Airport to be built in the state’s capital, Itanagar. At an estimated cost of INR 1,055 crore, the airport will be built 25 kilometers away from the capital.
The Greenfield Airport at Hollongi will definitely improve connectivity to the state, and is expected to bring a great boost in the tourism development. The proposed project will have a state-of-the-art architecture, and will be providing direct flight services to major metro cities. The aviation services might also be extended to few of the international destinations, considering the demands in future. It also promises to have a 2,200-metre runway, which will make it fit for dealing into jet aircrafts, too.
According to a report by Indian Express, the Union Minister Jayant Sinha said that the entire state would be linked with aviation services in the next 10 years, and asserted that helicopter, seaplanes and passenger drone services would connect all small and big towns.
Pending for years due to controversies over site selection, the project was first proposed for Karsingsa but later, was passed over to Hollongi after a central joint inspection committee visited Itanagar to study the feasibility of the site in 2017. The Greenfield Airport has been planned, commissioned and built from scratch without destroying an existing structure, while the state already has airports at Tezu and Pasighat.
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