SHILLONG, Sept 7 NNN: The upgradation of the Shillong Airport is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2014 even as 32 acres of land belonging to Umroi Cantonment of Indian Army has been requested from Ministry of Defence, informed Transport Minister A T Mondal.
Presently, Shillong Airport has a 6,000 feet runway which is insufficient for larger planes to land. An ATR aircraft flies daily to Kolkata except on Friday from the airport. Larger planes require about 8000 – 9000 feet of runway. To enable landing to larger planes, Meghalaya government is extending the presenting runway by another 2000 feet and also upgrading the entire airport. Earlier, on June 25, 2011, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Vayalar Ravi has inaugurated the new terminal building of the Shillong Airport which is constructed with all modern facilities at a cost of Rs 30 crore to be able to handle 200 passengers (100 arrival and 100 departure) during peak hour.
Replying to a query by Jaiaw legislator, Paul Lyngdoh, during the question hour on the last day of the Autumn Session here on Friday, Mondal informed a proposal for upgradation of the airport to provide landing of bigger aircrafts has been taken up by the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
For this purpose, 192.253 acres of land has been acquired and handed over to the AAI while acquiring of additional land is being pursued with the army, Mondal stated on the Floor of the House.Also, obstacle survey of Instrument Landing System (ILS) has been completed and sent to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for clearance.Mondal highlighted that AAI has not indicated any additional requirement of land for setting up of ILS.Mentionably, an ILS is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), such as low ceilings or reduced visibility due to fog, rain, or snow.
Additionally, government had already paid Rs 50.62 crore as compensation to the persons whose lands have been acquired for the expansion project at the airport, he apprised adding the Deputy Commissioner of Nongpoh has sought an additional amount of Rs 11.44 crore to compensate those land owners who were left out due to steep resistance and non – acceptance of the compensation offered during the initial survey.
The Minister also informed that Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited had recently agreed to set up a refueling centre at the airport to facilitate the full operationalization of the airport.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/shillong-airport-up-gradation-to-be-completed-by-dec-2014/
