According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the greenfield airport in the Papum Pare district will be operational by August 15, 2022. The airport’s actual completion date is November 2022, but it has been pushed forward to 15 August to commemorate 75 years of independence. The airport’s construction began on December 15, 2020.

The Hollongi airport, which is being built at a cost of Rs 645 crores, would provide air connection to the state capital Itanagar once completed. Itanagar is now the only state capital in India without an airport. The runway, terminal building, boundary wall, and other infrastructure are all being built at the same time.

“The total length of the runway is 2,300 metres and breadth 60 metres. Till now 1,600 metre work has been completed. The entire runway be will be completed by end of March,” said AAI DGM M Suresh.

The AAI is planning to start the operation of the airport with a prefabricated terminal building. “The prefab terminal building will be completed by April. The 4,000 square metres main terminal building will be completed by March 2023. The work on both has started. Once the main building is ready, we will use the prefabricated building as a cargo terminal,” said the DGM.

“The 12-kilometer-long barrier wall is 80 percent built. The four-lane highway approach road is planned to be completed by March. The road is 4 kilometres long in total. The 11 kv power station is being built solely for the airport, and the airport’s water supply is likewise being built on a war footing,” he continued.

In terms of air traffic control (ATC), he stated that the main ATC tower will take some time to build. “We will start operation with mobile ATC, which will be assembled here,” said Suresh. However, there are issues like security, shifting of HT line and the threat of flooding from nearby rivers which still need to be addressed.

“The 132 kv HT line on the eastern side of the airport needs to be shifted at the earliest. This is the approach side of the airport. We have already informed Powergrid. Without shifting it, the work will be affected,” the DGM added. On the issue of security, he said that a final decision on who will manage the security of the airport will be taken later.

“Already a meeting to discuss security issue was recently held. The security of the airport will be initially under the state government,” the DGM informed. Further, he claimed that the threat of flooding has been taken care of. “Flood calculation for the next 25 years has been done. Proper research has been done and people need not worry,” said Suresh.

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