GUWAHATI: A wait spanning three and half decades is about to be over!
Come Saturday, Rupsi Airport in western Assam will be commercially operational under the Regional Connectivity Scheme, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik).
After a successful trial flight on the Guwahati-Rupsi-Guwahati route on Wednesday, newly-launched domestic airlines, Flybig is set to start its operations in the Northeast from May 8, connecting Rupsi with Guwahati and Kolkata Airports, initially, and subsequently other destinations in the Northeast.
The flight is scheduled to operate on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
Bookings for the route have been already opened for passengers by Flybig.
“The trial run was completed timely and safely with extended support from the state government and concerned agencies,” an Airports Authority of India (AAI) source said on Thursday.
Rupsi Airport had served as a base for the Allied forces during World War-II to supply manpower and ammunition, and was poised to resume functions after flight operations came to a halt back in the mid-1980s.
Redeveloped at an estimated cost of Rs 69 crore, the airport located near Dhubri town, is spread across 337 acres of land, with a terminal building covering 3,500 square metres.
Equipped with 10 check-in counters, the terminal is designed to process 200 passengers during peak hours. The newly-built runway of the airport is suitable for landing ATR-72 type aircraft.
Apart from facilitating direct connectivity to cities like Guwahati and Kolkata, Rupsi Airport will primarily cater to passengers from four districts of Assam – Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Goalpara besides air travellers from neighbouring Meghalaya, West Bengal and also parts of Bhutan.
It may be recalled that the foundation stone for the development of the airport was laid on February 22, 2019.
The project work, which includes construction of the terminal building, air traffic control tower, security hut and other allied work and development of air side facilities, has been completed.