Now, North East is more accessible as Arunachal Pradesh gets its another airport. IndiGo Airbus 320 successfully landed at the newly constructed Donyi Polo Airport in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday. The airport is due to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 28, 2022. Hence, the landing was conducted on a test flight.
Upon arrival, the test flight was greeted with two water cannons. The airport will bring better connectivity, easy travel and comfort to the travellers looking forward to exploring the beautiful destinations of the state. And, of course, ease things out for the locals as well.
The Development Of Donyi Polo Airport
Situated in Hollongi, the airport is extremely accessible from the capital city — Itanagar, at just 15 km. The Donyi Polo Airport is developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at a cost of ₹645 crores. The airport is constructed in a vast area of 4,100 square metres along with a 2,300 metres runway and eight check-in counters.
The airport is also compatible to operate larger aircraft such as Boeing 747. The authorities said that the airport is built to provide easy travel and modern amenities to passengers.
Although the state already has two operational airports in Pasighat and Tenzu, one at Itanagar was much needed too. The passengers had to travel six hours to ten hours to take a flight from Assam as the airports in Arunachal Pradesh were even farther.
Thus, travel will be made much more feasible and comfortable, thanks to this upcoming airport.
Also read: You Can Now Fly Directly To The Hills Of Arunachal Pradesh
The Chief Minister’s Tweet On Successful Landing
It’s so satisfying and fulfilling to see IndiGo flight making a successful test landing at Donyi Polo airport. Ensuring better connectivity to our people is a top priority of my government. Rest assured we’ll ensure we’ve many more flights from Itanagar.🙏@PMOIndia @JM_Scindia pic.twitter.com/pcoZ6h3FLA
— Pema Khandu པདྨ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་། (@PemaKhanduBJP) October 18, 2022
Chief Minister Pema Khandu took to Twitter to express his feeling of victory on the successful landing of the test Indigo flight. He tweeted that better connectivity to the natives was on his top priority list and thus, the airport. He also said that this will help attract tourists to the state.
Arunachal Pradesh’s Home Minister was also present at the airport during the test landing. He said that the airport was a “long-cherished dream of the people of the state”. He then tweeted saying, “A milestone moment indeed! Congratulations to all”.
The other airports in the state operate under the UDAN scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017. The scheme aims to connect small and medium cities to bigger ones through flight travel.
Also read: 5 Underrated Destinations In Arunachal Pradesh
News Source: NDTV/ Northeast Now
Cover image courtesy: Instagram/ IndiGo