Meghalaya airport

The AAI chairman also visited the runway with his team to acquaint himself with the obstacles surrounding the airport and the funnel area which is the controlled airspace around an airport where the approach has to be clear for the safety of the aircrafts. Notably, the airport is located amid picturesque hills and tall trees, some of which pose obstacles for operation of ILS. An area across 224 acres has to be enclosed with boundary walls as well. The 6000-feet tarmac would be extended by another 1500 feet as part of the infrastructure upgrade work. The airport was constructed in the mid-1960s and became operational in the mid-1970s. Later in 2009, additional 224.16 acres of land, acquired for its expansion, was handed over to AAI. In November last year, the High Court of Meghalaya had slammed the AAI for the delay in start of expansion work of the airport. Northeast Now is a multi-app based hyper-regional bilingual news portal. Led by a group of professionals, the digital news platform covers every inch of the eight states of northeast India and the five neighbouring countries. It is the first of its kind new media initiative in the northeast, and is based in Guwahati. As the political dynamics in the northeast is intricate and fluid, Northeast Now is always politically neutral. Our Properties

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How to Reach Meghalaya Meghalaya literally means the abode of clouds, which is one of the popular tourist destinations of Northeast and is easily accessible by different modes of transport. The name has been given due to the fact that this place receives heavy rainfall most of the year. Meghalaya is known for its scenic beauty, tranquility, lush greenery, waterfalls, etc. One of the villages in Meghalaya (Mawsynram) is indeed the wettest place on the Earth. When Read more to get detailed about how to reach Meghalaya Meghalaya by Train If you are planning to travel to Meghalaya by train, the nearest railway station from Meghalaya is located in Meghalaya by Air Major airport from Meghalaya is located in Guwahati (Assam) at a distance of 159 km (Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport). The airport is well- connected to international cities of Tura and Bangkok along with Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Calcutta. Traveling to Meghalaya by flight is a unique experience in itself. There are no direct bus connection from Guwahati Airport to Meghalaya, but you can hire a cab to reach your destination. Meghalaya by Road Meghalaya is well-connected to major cities through roads. The roads are mostly smooth and well-frequented with traffic. Many travelers find monsoon as the best month for traveling to Meghalaya for the love towards unlimited rain. However, it will be ideal if you could take precautions while driving in heavy monsoon season. Some of the roads g...

The Meghalaya High Court has asked the state government to pick a land for construction of Greenfield airport in the state. The directive was passed by a division bench of the Meghalaya high court headed bychief justiceSanjib Banerjee while hearing a Public Interest Litigation(PIL) on the matter. In an order, the Meghalaya High Court said, “The state, in consultation with Airports Authorityof India (AAI) or even the officials stationed at the Umroi airport should make an attempt to identify a few pockets of land and, thereupon, AAI may be invited to give a preliminary opinion as to whether any of such pockets would be feasible for aGreenfield airportproject.” Nevertheless, the Court made it clear that it would not interfere or impose its will if the states and the union governments oppose to set up a newairportin the state. At the same time, the court also said that a new airport close to Shillong may give a fillip to the state and its development initiatives. At present ATRs and smaller aircraft like Bombardiers are landing at the existing airport and the length of the runway and the surrounding hills do not make it feasible for wide-bodied aircraft to call at Umroi, the court observed. The Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport at Guwahati is about 140 km away and over 3 hour's drive, whereas Shillong Airport is about 30 minutes from the city, it added. Moreover, the Court remarked that though Meghalaya is a hilly state it also has large tracts of plains and the closest plac...

The airport had then cost Rs 12.52 crore, after the original proposal sent to the Centre in 1983 was finally sanctioned in 1995. (Source: Express photo by Dasarath Deka) Believe it or not, an airport at Baljek, about 32 kms from here, has been lying idle for over six years now even after then President Pratibha Patil had inaugurated it way back in 2008 amid much fanfare. While the terminal building and other infrastructure have remained unused, the residential quarters meant for Airports Authority of India (AAI) staff currently houses a CRPF company. Owned and built by the government of Meghalaya during the heydays of former Lok Sabha Speaker and Tura MP Purno Agitok Sangma, the airport had then cost Rs 12.52 crore, after the original proposal sent to the Centre in 1983 was finally sanctioned in 1995. Thanks to the E/67 Battalion of the CRPF the residential portion of the airport complex is spic and span. But the rest of the area is surrounded by tall grasses, weeds and other wild vegetation, with snakes and reptiles often sighted by the jawans here. “There are so many snakes and other reptiles around and my jawans do not venture out towards the terminal building after sunset,” said an officer the CRPF company located in the airport’s residential complex. Neighbouring villagers once in a while scale the broken boundary walls to collect firewood from inside the compound. While the AAI and ministry of civil aviation have inspected the airport and a draft Memorandum of Unders...

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday met Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in New Delhi and submitted proposals to set up heliports and an international airport in the northeastern state to boost tourism. The existing Shillong airport has a short runway, which is not feasible for landing of big aircraft, while the Baljek airport in Garo Hills district remained unutilised, an official said. Met Hon’ble Union Minister for — Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) Also Read | “Met Hon’ble Union Minister for @MoCA_GoI, Sh. @JM_Scindia ji & presented proposals— to establish heliports in Shillong & Tura, to set up an international airport in Meghalaya & to operationalize the Baljek Airport. These proposals are aimed at boosting our state’s tourism potential & economic growth through air connectivity,” Sangma said on Twitter. Notably, the Meghalaya High Court has recently directed the state government to identify a few pockets of land for the construction of a greenfield airport as the existing facility cannot be extended to accommodate the landing of big aircraft. At present ATRs and smaller aircraft are landing at the existing airport and the length of the runway and the surrounding hills do not make it feasible for wide-bodied aircraft to call at the facility in Umroi near here, the court had observed. The court, however, made it clear that it will not interfere or impose its will if both the state and the central governments are reluctant to set up a new airp...

Opt out or The court had in March directed the state government to file a preliminary report on whether to build a greenfield airport or expand the existing Umroi airport as the AAI had said the extension of the runway at the current facility may not be feasible. Following the AAI’s indication that a greenfield project could be commenced elsewhere upon 2,000 acre of land being available, the state proposes to invite expressions of interest from the general public by May 15. “The state also submits that some sites have been tentatively identified and it is for the AAI to take a call upon any favourable response to the invitation for expression of interest, the bench said in an order on Tuesday. The AAI had reported that the runway at the existing airport may not be possible to expand to accommodate large aircraft. The state also agreed that the cost involved in “felling the nearby mountains may not yield commensurate benefit”, the order said. ADVERTISEMENT