Gangtok, Sep 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first ever airport of Sikkim at Pakyong on Monday. The foundation stone of the Pakyong Greenfield Airport, around 33 km from Gangtok, was laid in 2009. Constructed by the Airport Authority of India, the Pakyong Greenfield Airport is located on top of a hill about 2 kilometres above Pakyong village which is at 4,500 feet above sea level.

Initially, the airport, which is spread over 201 acres, would only provide domestic services, but later it will cater international flights to Paro in Bhutan, Kathmandu in Nepal and Dhaka in Bangladesh, according to the Airport Director R Manjunatha. The airport has a 1.75-kilometre runway with a width of 30 meters. It has a 3,000 sq metre terminal building. The Sikkim police will secure the entire airport.

The first commercial flight from the Pakyong Greenfield Airport will begin from October 4. Geotechnical 'cut and fill' engineering works were used to carve the land from mountainside for the construction of the airport. It is the 100th functional airport in the country. Another 75-metre stretch is being built adjacent to the main runway from which the Indian Air Force (IAF) would be able to land various types of aircraft.

Low-cost airline SpiceJet has been granted permission to fly to Pakyong from Kolkata under the Civil Aviation Ministry's regional connectivity scheme - Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN). SpiceJet has already conducted a dry run at the airport with one its Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft successfully landing there on March 5. Also in March, A Dornier 228 of the Indian Air Force landed at the airport.

Besides providing an economic boost, the Pakyong Greenfield Airport is expected to benefit immensely to the tourism sector of the Himalayan state. The nearest Bagdogra airport in West Bengal is about 150 km from Gangtok, and air passengers have to take the road after alighting there.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 24, 2018 11:18 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).