Passenger traffic of Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBI) in Guwahati is growing at the rate of 20 percent annually while the all India growth is around 15 to 18 percent. Passenger traffic in north east India has systemically increased from 4 percent to 16 percent and has touched 28 percent. In the face of growing traffic at Guwahati airport, AAI has chalked out a massive expansion plan. A new airport terminal is going to come up. Already the infrastructure facility of the airport has undergone revamping twice.

The Chairman of AAI, VP Agrawal remarked that the present setup of the Guwahati airport will not be sufficient in the long run as Guwahati airport is the ninth biggest airport in terms of traffic.

The new terminal will have three hangers and a passenger handling facility of 1200 during peak hours which can presently cater to 500 passengers. The possibilities of a cargo terminal are being explored at Guwahati airport. The terminal will be around 50,000 square meters. Dr J. Balaji, Secretary Industry Assam explained, “We are trying to arrange requisite land for the cargo terminal at the airport. This terminal will help in the export of different commodities from the region especially the perishable commodities.” However a large chunk of north east India is still devoid of airports and air services.  Greenfield airports are coming in Gangtok in Sikkim and in Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. Gangtok airport with `320 Crore is expected to start functioning by next year. The Itanagar airport will require Rs 950 Crore. North east India has 23 airports out of which 12 are operational.

Ministry of Civil aviation is developing Tezu, Pasighat, Along, Daparizo (Arunachal Pradesh), Kamalpur (Tripura) and Rupsi (Assam). Altogether the Government of India is investing close to Rs 2000 Crore for the development of at least eight airports in north east India. Around Rs 500 crore would be required for parallel runway, Rs 150 crore for traffic taxi and Rs 100 crore for land cost for expansion of Guwahati airport. The airport will also get night landing facility. Expansion of Lakhimpur’s Lilabari airport and a training academy also figured in the discussion between the AAI Chairman and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi recently. The AAI officials informed the Chief Minister that talks are going on with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and North Eastern Council (NEC) for acquisition of land.

The Chairman AAI apprised the Chief Minister about the expansion plan (Phase I) of Mohanbari Airport in Dibrugarh. He said about 32.5 acres of land will be required for the purpose. About 11 crore will be required for land acquisition, out of which Rs 2.5 crore would be released by the State Government this year. The Chairman AAI also apprised the Chief Minister that night landing facility would be in place at Mohanbari Airport. Around 18 months’ time will be required for the execution of the expansion project under Phase I. The Chairman AAI requested a re-survey of land of all the airports across the state for proper boundary demarcation and construction of boundary walls.

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation will develop Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal and Dibrugarh airports as regional hubs. The AAI has initiated a unique mode running airports on solar light. The AAI will source at least 15 percent of its power requirement from solar power.

Attempts of the regional planning body, North Eastern Council (NEC) to operate dedicated air service in the region got frustrated as the global tender floated for operation of commercial airline operations in 2008 failed to attract much attention from the operators. For the regional air services operated by Alliance Air in the north east, NEC contributes Rs 45 crore annually. NEC had commissioned a feasibility study by Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism (FAST). The report was examined by a committee under the chairmanship of the former Governor of Manipur S.S. Sidhu.

The committee recommended the setting up of a regional airline through public private partnership to operate in the region or provision of minimum subsidy to airlines through reverse bidding process to operate the required services in the region.

Now private entrepreneurs have started showing interest in operating helicopter service in north east India. Rudra GTL Aviation Pvt Ltd is a joint venture between Rudra Group of companies and GT Logistics (GTL) Group of companies. GTL is a part of Eureka Group of Enterprise engaged in logistics and surface transportation Industry in the northern part of the country based in Lucknow. Rudra Group is engaged in the aviation industry, especially in the north east, with ground handling solutions and cargo solutions. The company has two choppers and has started its services. It will operate between Guwahati and Bodoland Territorial Council area, Dhemaji, Karbi Anglong, Halflong, Lilabari, Tezpur, Manas and the river island of Majuli. Assam tourism minister, Chandan Brahma added that this initiative in the private sector will help boost tourism in the region.  

The Director of the company, Monosijj Roy said, “We have invested around Rs 10 Crore in this project. We have done a survey where we found that there is good demand in the market for the choppers. He added, “We have got two choppers on lease. Four months back we started chopper services and the response is very encouraging. From April onwards we will start the transportation of rubber grown in Assam and Tripura to Kolkata. We are operating cargo service in Imphal, Agaratala, Aizwal and Dimapur.” Roy also informed that some prominent hospitals outside the north east are willing to tie up with the company for ambulance services.

EP Desk