COME INDEPENDENCE DAY , THE ‘LAND OF THE RISING SUN’ WILL GET ITS MAIDEN AIRPORT

DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY

KOLKATA, 26 JULY 2022

The Land of the Rising Sun will get an independence day gift in the form of its first airport . The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has constructed the greenfield Hollongi Airport, which is about 15 kilometres from capital Itanagar at an estimated cost of Rs.645 crores.

This maiden airport of Arunachal Pradesh, one of the seven sisters of North Eastern India is part of the Act East policy of the Narendra Modi government giving special focus on tourism in Incredible India.

An airport to connect the capital city was much needed as tourists and passengers had to go to the domestic  Lilabari Airport in North Lakhimpur district in Assam or  Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport ( distance 320 km) in Assam to catch flights till date.  The distance is almost 80 kilometres and passengers need an overnight bus journey to reach the airport to Lilabari Airport.

PM Narendra Modi wishes to make Arunachal Pradesh a major gateway to SouthEast Asia and transform its infrastructure to world class.

The airport terminal is energy efficient and provisioned with a rainwater harvesting  system and sustainable landscape.

Talking to The Travel and Tourism Times, Anil Punjabi, chairman (aest) of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said that the new airport will act as a game changer in socio economic activities in the region.

“ For the tourists and the travel agents it is great news that Arunachal Pradesh will get a new airport on 15 August. The seven sisters have a huge tourism potential,” Anil Punjabi added.

The airport terminal will have eight check in counters and at a time can handle 200 passengers. The runway size is 2300 metres and can handle Boeing 747 aircrafts.

The peak tourism season of Arunachal Pradesh is October to April. Some of the most visited tourist destinations are – Ziro Valley, Tawang Monastery, Itanagar, Dirang valley, Tezu, Namdapha National Park, Sela Pass, Mehao wIldlife Sanctuary, Ganga Lake, Roing, Bomdila, Bhalukpong, Pasighat, Anini, Along, Ita Fort etc.

Popularly called as Nature’s treasure trove’, Arunachal Pradesh has limitless beauty with snow clad mountains, scenic valleys, flora and faunas etc.

Arunachal Pradesh came second , after Manipur in the climbing competition organised by Assam Sport Climbing Competition and Assam Mountaineering Association a few days back.