Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma on May 12 met Union minister for civil aviation Jyotiraditya M Scindia and submitted proposals to establish heliports and international airport in the state.
Sangma and deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong were in New Delhi meeting various Union ministers.
The duo also called on Union defense minister Rajnath Singh on May 12 afternoon.
Apart from establishing heliports in Shillong and Tura, CM Conrad Sangma proposed for setting up of an international airport besides making Baljek airport located in West Garo Hills district operational.
“These proposals are aimed at boosting our state’s tourism potential & economic growth through air connectivity,” Sangma said.
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… pic.twitter.com/ev4oGADjif
— Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) May 12, 2023
The state has just one airport at Umroi called the Shillong Airport. Even this airport is unable to handle large aircraft like Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 as the runway is short. Efforts are on to extend the runaway from 6000 feet to 7500 feet so that Boeing and Airbus can land and take off.
The Baljek airport on the other hand has been non-operational and so the Garo Hills region doesn’t have an airport yet.
The centre sanctioned the construction of the Baljek airport in 1995 and was inaugurated in 2008.
Work is on to extend the airport’s runway so that ATRs could operate from it. Currently, the length of the runway is a mere 3300 feet.
