Arunachal Pradesh's Donyi Polo airport inaugurated by PM Modi: All you need to know - 10 points

Arunachal Pradesh's first greenfield airport 'Donyi Polo Airport' will be inaugurated today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Holangi in Itanagar today. The Donyi Polo airport is located at Hollongi and when it becomes operational it will boost connectivity, trade, and tourism in the hilly northeastern state, officials said. Here are 10 key points about the Donyi Polo airport:

1) The Donyi Polo airport has been developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at an estimated cost of Rs 645 crore. 

2) The terminal is built over an area of 4100 sq m and has a peak handling capacity of 200 passengers per hour. 

3) The airport, which is the first greenfield airport in Arunachal Pradesh, will have eight check-in counters.

4) With a 2,300 m runway, the airport is suitable for all weather day operations. It will be suitable for landing and take-off of Boeing 747, officials said.

5) Donyi Polo Airport will be the third operational airport for Arunachal Pradesh, taking the total airport count in the North-East region to 16. From 1947 to 2014, only nine airports were built in the North-East.

6) The airport terminal is a modern building, which promotes energy efficiency, renewable energy and the recycling of resources. 

7) The name of the airport reflects the traditions and rich cultural heritage of Arunachal Pradesh and its age-old indigenous reverence to the Sun ('Donyi') and the Moon ('Polo').

8) IndiGo Airlines will commence commercial flights from the airport from November 28. Besides IndiGo, Akasha and Flybig airlines have also expressed interest in starting flight services from Donyi Polo airport, AAI General Manager Dilip Kumar Sajnani said.

9) Flights connecting Hollongi, which is around 15 km from Itanagar, with Mumbai and Kolkata will operate daily barring Wednesday. A weekly flight service connecting Hollongi with Kolkata on Wednesdays will begin on December 3, the chief strategy and revenue officer of IndiGo, Sanjay Kumar had said recently.

10) Airports in five northeastern states, namely, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have seen flights take off for the first time in 75 years."Aircraft movement in the North-East has also witnessed an increase of 113 per cent since 2014, from 852 per week in 2014 to 1817 per week in 2022," read the official statement.

(With ANI, PTI inputs)