By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 30: The Airports Authority of India is working on a proposal of the state government to revive and upgrade the defunct Baljek Airport located at Jengjal on the outskirts of Tura.
Sources from the AAI said that the proposal for revival of the airport is being worked out by the authority and state government officials.
The government wants to operate a 20-seater flight from the Baljek Airport under the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme.
Initially designed as a STOL (short take-off and landing) facility, with a runway of approximately 1,120 metres, limiting its operational viability, the airport remains non-functional seventeen years after former President Pratibha Patil inaugurated it in 2008.
Today, the airport is being used as a venue for music festivals and other programmes.
Tura’s Lok Sabha MP Saleng Sangma is also pushing hard for the expansion of the airport to accommodate larger aircraft.
He has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Civil Aviation Ministry to expand the airport to facilitate the landing of ATR72 aircraft.
