High Court hears case, grants further time to DGCA
SHILLONG, July 2: For thousands of people in Meghalaya, catching a flight has turned into an exhausting and expensive ordeal. With the file regarding the expansion of the Shillong Airport at Umroi remaining stuck at the Director General of Civil Aviation (DCA) office and several key flight connections being lost over the years, Meghalaya is gradually being pushed into an isolated corner while the rest of the Northeast and the country enjoy domestic and global connectivity.
The delay in upgrading the airport has not only shrunk direct connectivity within the Northeast but has also dashed hopes of new routes to major cities. Students rushing for admissions, patients needing urgent medical referrals, traders and tourists now routinely factor in long road journeys, extra costs and lost time — all because the long-awaited airport expansion remains delayed.
Under the UDAN scheme, Shillong Airport once enjoyed direct links to Dimapur, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Agartala and Guwahati. Most of these services were discontinued after a few years once the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) ended, despite strong passenger response on several routes. Today, the airport operates flights only to Kolkata (daily), New Delhi (twice a week), Imphal, Aizawl and Pasighat.
The limited options have real consequences as travellers find themselves left with no choice but to head to Guwahati Airport, nearly 140 km away. The added time, cost and fatigue of the road journey have become a recurring burden for many.
Sources said the existing flights maintain good punctuality. In the past three months, the SpiceJet-operated Shillong-Delhi service was cancelled only once, while IndiGo’s daily Kolkata flight was cancelled twice. However, when tickets sell out quickly, several booking portals reportedly stop displaying the flights, creating the false impression that no service is available.
Last year, the state government floated tenders for direct flights from Shillong to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The proposal stalled after airlines demanded significantly higher VGF support than the government was prepared to offer.
The situation is compounded by the continued delay in expanding Umroi Airport. The project, which includes runway extension to allow narrow-body aircraft, has faced multiple hurdles. Although land acquisition issues were resolved with additional land handed over to the Airports Authority of India and the High Court monitoring progress closely, the final regulatory clearance remains pending.
In a recent hearing, the Meghalaya High Court had pulled up the DGCA for the delay in granting safety clearance essential for the 18-month expansion work. The court noted that nearly 45 days had already passed since work was scheduled to begin.
On Thursday, Deputy Solicitor General Nitesh Mozika informed the Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh, that the DGCA has now expedited the process. He sought additional time to submit the safety assessment report for the execution stage, which was granted. This clearance is the last major hurdle before heavy machinery can move to the site.
Until the expansion is completed and new routes become viable, residents of Meghalaya will continue to miss out on seamless air connectivity that could transform access to education, healthcare, business opportunities and tourism.
The combination of lost UDAN connections and the stalled upgrade has left the state’s skies noticeably emptier than they were a few years ago.
