Govt caught in airport dilemma

SHILLONG, Jan 7: The state government seems to be caught between upgrading the Shillong Airport at Umroi and constructing a new airport at Diengpasoh.
Attempts were made a few years ago to extend the runway of the Shillong Airport for bigger aircraft to operate. A detailed project report was prepared and the cost of flattening the hills for a longer runway was estimated at more than Rs 7,500 crore.
After the plan was shelved, the High Court of Meghalaya asked the state government to identify places for developing an airport.
A patch in Diengpasoh was subsequently offered to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for conducting a feasibility study.
AAI officials said a pre-feasibility study has been completed and an analysis of the location is being done.
“Everything is in the initial stage. An airport will take a long time after things fall in place,” an official said, seeking anonymity. He added that constructing an airport at Diengpasoh will cost almost the same as carving out space for the existing facility in Umroi.
The Shillong Airport is currently connected by flights to and from nine urban centres – Kolkata, Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal, Dibrugarh, Aizawl, Silchar, Lakhimpur and Dimapur.
It is learnt that the state government and a major private player have begun discussions for operating a Shillong-Delhi flight, which FlyBig failed to provide. The private firm has reportedly submitted a proposal to operate a Bombardier aircraft.
The airport, moving more than 9,000 passengers in 250 flights per month, currently has two parking bays. Two more are being constructed.
One of the major drawbacks of Shillong Airport is the lack of a prepaid taxi service, emboldening cabbies to charge passengers exorbitantly for airport transfers.
The Shillong Airport authorities are learnt to have petitioned the Chief Secretary to fix the cab rates. The government is yet to act on the petition.
The airport had earlier floated a tender for the banks to set up ATMs. No bank showed interest.
The airport has three stalls – one each in the arrival, departure and security areas. A tender to set up a stall outside the airport had no takers.
The Shillong Airport functions six days a week. It is expected to operate daily from the summer season.