SHILLONG, Oct 8: With business booming at the Shillong Airport at Umroi and the volume of passengers an flight in and out of the airport increasing each day, the Airport authorities are planning to upgrade services and facilities to do away with logistical challenges being faced by both fliers and staff members.
Sources from the Shillong Airport on Friday said that a slew of developmental projects are being planned at the airport to cater to the growing movement of passengers the first of which will be a four-lane road connecting the Airport from the Shillong Bypass.
The state government has already given the instructions to acquire the land for the proposed expansion of the existing road.
In addition, a separate road for Umden village is also being worked out keeping in mind the security of the airport. For this, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will give some land to the state government for construction of the road leading to the village for which an MoU will be signed between the government and AAI.
As the flow of passengers to and from the airport is set to increase, an eatery will also be opened inside the airport terminal and it is expected to be functional within a couple of weeks. An ATM kiosk will also be opened soon.
The Airport authorities also said that there are plans to start cargo service from the Airport for which necessary vetting is under way.
However, passengers travelling to the airport from the city and vice-versa are facing challenges with cabbies charging exorbitant fares. The Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) had initially operated a bus for movement of the passengers but the service was stopped after the drivers were allegedly threatened.
Cabbies have been charging between Rs 1000 and Rs 1500 to ferry passengers on a reserved basis and passengers are not allowed to share the vehicle with other passengers.
Reacting to this issue, the airport authorities are contemplating the idea of opening a prepaid taxi service.
The airport recently faced an embarrassing situation when one of the toilets at the airport was found to be dirty but sources clarified that the issue was immediately brought to the notice of the airport authorities and it was rectified.
In addition, two additional parking bays and a new terminal building for the Air Traffic Control are also being planned.
As of now, Indigo and FlyBig are the only operators functioning from the airport while Alliance Air would resume its services from October 18.
FlyBig is currently operating the Delhi-Shillong and Shillong-Delhi flights on Mondays and Fridays and the flight lands at the airport at 1.30 pm and takes off at 2 pm.
However, passengers are unhappy with the existing booking system since the company allows booking of flights only 2-3 days before the scheduled date. The matter was discussed with Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma who flew from Shillong to New Delhi on Friday afternoon on a FlyBig flight.
Earlier, the CM held a meeting with the Airport officials and discussed issues pertaining to the airport. Sangma is scheduled to have another round of meeting with the Airport authorities after his return flight from Delhi on October 11.
FlyBig is now planning to connect Shillong with Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, Imphal and Dibrugarh whereas Alliance Air will connect Shillong with Guwahati, Dimapur and Aizawl.
IndiGo on the other hand is operating several flights from Shillong to destinations like Kolkata, Agartala and Imphal several times every week.
IndiGo operates two-way Kolkata-Shillong-Silchar flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Kolkata-Shillong-Agartala flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Flights between Shillong and Imphal operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
