Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister for Civil Aviation and Steel, inaugurated the newly developed infrastructure of Tezu Airport in Arunachal Pradesh last week.
Tezu Airport is a domestic airport located in the town of Tezu, which operates through a single runway. The airport is developed on 212 acres of land and capable of handling operations for ATR 72 type of aircraft. AAI undertook the development and upgradation work to operationalize Tezu Airport at the request of the State government. The works undertaken, for Rs 170 crore, includes the extension of the runway (1,500 m x 30 m) and the construction of a new apron for 02 ATR 72 type aircraft, construction of a new terminal building, and a fire station cum ATC Tower.
Mr Scindia said on the occasion that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, special impetus has been given to the development of the North-Eastern region of the country.
He added that PM Modi has made North-East India the ‘HIRA’ (Diamond) of India, which means Highway, Internet, Railway and Aviation – the four core components that are enabling holistic and inclusive development of the region. He then talked about the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN which has benefitted the region. He said the PM has democratised civil aviation through the UDAN scheme. He pointed out that more than 2.50 lakh UDAN flights have helped more than 1.37 crore people travel.
He also talked about the state of the civil aviation sector in Arunachal Pradesh. Making a comparison with 2014, he said that till 2014 there was no airport in Arunachal Pradesh and, in a span of 9 years, 4 new airports have been developed and operationalised. He added that the New Terminal Building at Tezu will further enhance the connectivity of the region and play a vital role in its economic development.
The Minister also announced three direct routes from Itanagar under the UDAN 5.0 scheme: Itanagar to Delhi, Itanagar to Jorahat, and Itanagar to Rupsi which will be operationalised soon.
Tezu Airport was operationalised in 2018 under the RCS UDAN scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The airport is currently connected to Dibrugarh, Imphal & Guwahati through regular scheduled flights by Alliance Air & Flybig Airline, said a release.