Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Arunachal Pradesh's first greenfield airport 'Donyi Polo Airport' at Holangi in Itanagar today.
In 2019, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the construction of Greenfield Airport at Hollongi and inaugurated retrofitted Tezu airport.
According to an official statement, the terminal at Hollongi has been constructed approximately at a cost of Rs 955 crore with an area of 4100 sq m and has a peak handling capacity of 200 passengers per hour.
The airport, which is the first greenfield airport in Arunachal Pradesh, has been developed in an area of over 690 acres, at a cost of more than Rs 640 crore. With a 2,300 m runway, the airport is suitable for all weather day operations.
"The airport terminal is a modern building, which promotes energy efficiency, renewable energy and the recycling of resources. Donyi Polo Airport will be the third operational airport for Arunachal Pradesh, taking the total airport count in the North-East region to 16. From 1947 to 2014, only nine airports were built in the North-East. In a short span of eight years since then, the Modi government has built seven airports in the North-East," read the official statement.
Airports in five northeastern states, namely, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have seen flights take off for the first time in 75 years.
"Aircraft movement in the North-East has also witnessed an increase of 113 per cent since 2014, from 852 per week in 2014 to 1817 per week in 2022," added the statement.
The name of the airport reflects the traditions and rich cultural heritage of Arunachal Pradesh and its age-old indigenous reverence to the Sun ('Donyi') and the Moon ('Polo').
( With inputs from ANI )
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