SHILLONG, Nov 12: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will take time to finalise the feasibility study of the land given by the state government for a proposed greenfield airport.
An area in Diengpasoh was identified for the proposed airport.
An official said the feasibility study is time-consuming as multi-disciplinary committees are expected to review different aspects of the plot.
Last month, the AAI conducted a preliminary feasibility study of the land measuring 1,600 acres.
The exercise entails making an obstacle limitation survey and examining the frontage, approach roads and easy accessibility from the Guwahati-Shillong Road. The land also has to be relatively flat and suitable for constructing the airport.
The state government had floated an expression of interest (EoI) inviting applications for land measuring a minimum of 800 acres for the greenfield airport.
Landowners submitted eight applications and after initial scrutiny, the government zeroed in on Diengpasoh.
The hopes for an airport in Shillong soared after the Donyi Polo Airport near Itanagar was completed recently after a long wait. There has been a long-felt need for an airport to let bigger commercial flights operate as the Umroi facility can cater only to ATR aircraft.
Meanwhile, the instrument landing system (ILS) flight calibration was completed at Umroi.
The calibration is done from time to time to ensure that the ILS does not give wrong indicators to the flight.
