SHILLONG: The Shillong Airport at Umroi is all set to get another facelift within this year as the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has finally sanctioned the Advance Landing System (ALS) for the airport.
The Airport coordinator V Mohan on Tuesday said the survey work for installing the ALS at the runway is currently going on in the airport.
ALS would provide better visibility to the pilots allowing them to land even during bad weather, Mohan told The Shillong Times on Tuesday. Besides, the ALS would facilitate landing of bigger aircraft at the Airport, which is yet to be recognised by major airline companies of the country.
Presently, a 48-seater ATR aircraft comes from Kolkata every day and returns the same day while there are plans for a Delhi-Shillong flight.
“If everything goes alright, we hope to install the ALS by December,” V Mohan added.
The State Government recently handed over 214 acres of land to the AAI for expansion of the runway to facilitate landing of bigger aircraft.
The airport also needs a refuelling station since the only plane connecting Meghalaya has to carry less passengers in order to adjust the weight of access fuel carried by the aircraft.