Inauguration of the much-awaited Donyi Polo Airport near Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh was delayed till October this year “due to technical reasons”.
Arunachal Pradesh civil aviation minister Nakap Nalo on August 10 informed that the greenfield airport at Hollongi was supposed to be inaugurated on Independence Day but will now be opened for operations only in October.
The minister informed that while all the civil construction work at the Donyi Polo Airport was complete, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be able to include the airport in the schedule only by October and hence the inauguration was delayed.
“The scheduled inauguration of Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar has been postponed to the month of October due to non-receipt of flight schedule from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),” Arunachal Pradesh civil aviation minister Nakap Nalo said on August 10.
“All major civil constructions like the runway, air traffic control (ATC) tower, (interim) terminal building, etc are complete. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already organized various regulatory authority inspections and has successfully conducted flight calibrations and test landing of aircraft last month. Donyi Polo Airport is all set for inauguration,” Nalo said.
“It is learnt that the flight schedules are prepared in the month of October by DGCA…So, we have to wait for it till next October. After inclusion of our airport in flight schedule then we can go for inauguration of the Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar,” he said.
The minister also informed that the state government is working closely with the Union civil aviation ministry and also with airline operators for the introduction of commercial flights from Donyi Polo Airport to the rest of the country at the earliest.
The greenfield airport at Hollongi, which was formally named as Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar, is the first full-fledged airport in Arunachal Pradesh.
