Staff Correspondent
DIBRUGARH, Feb 19: The Dibrugarh Airport at Mohanbari is getting a major facelift with a range of modernization and expansion activities.
The runway of the airport is being extended from 6000 feet to 7500 feet, to enable aircraft like Airbus 320 to land and take off from the airport without sacrificing any load penalty. There is also another proposal for construction of a 1.3 kilometre road connecting the airport with the newly-constructed Dibrugarh-Tinsukia bypass road directly.
An integrated terminal building in addition to the existing 250 arrival plus 250 departure PAX capacity 10,000 metre square terminal building is planned and the Airports Authority of India is understood to have requested the Government of Assam for acquisition of 70 acres of land for the purpose.
In view of the growing number of aircraft flying to and from Dibrugarh, a third aerobridge is also coming up at the airport. Apart from that, construction work has already begun for a 27.5-metre high new air traffic control tower at the airport.
SK Garg, Director of the Airport has said that construction of the road diversion around the periphery of the extended portion of the runway is nearing completion and the portion of the road presently overlapping the extended portion of the runway is going to be handed over to the Airports Authority of India soon. However, the tendering process for allocation of work and completion of the project by connecting the existing and extended portions of the runway will take around one or one-and-a half years’ time, he stated.
While informing that the airport at present is handling a total of around 2000 incoming and outgoing passengers daily, the airport director said that the movement of cargo through the airport is around 130 tonnes per month. Eyeing the growth prospect of cargo at Dibrugarh Airport, the old terminal building at the airport is being renovated and converted to a dedicated cargo terminal. Moreover, a hanger to house an Airbus 321 aircraft is also coming up at the airport. This will enable evening arrival and morning departure of flights from the airport.
Meanwhile, Indigo airlines is going to connect the industrial hub of Dibrugarh in eastern Assam with the booming metropolis of Bengaluru in southern India by operating a non-stop direct flight four days a week, starting from March 1.
Indigo airlines flight 6E 6126 will depart from Bengaluru at 8:15 am and arrive at Dibrugarh at 11:15 am. The return flight 6E 6128 will depart from Dibrugarh at 11:45am and reach Bengaluru at 15:25 pm. Hemanta Kumar Roy, the local manager of the Indigo airlines, while confirming the flight, informed that initially the flight will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
