
Itanagar Airport

Itanagar Airport is a greenfield airport project that will be constructed at Holongi, 14 kilometres south of State capital Itanagar, in the Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is being built by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) over an area of 320 hectares. The project entails construction of a new 2300 metre runway, a terminal building measuring 5100 square metres to handle 200 passengers during peak hour, Air Traffic Control Tower and Technical block and Fire station with provisions for commercial activities such as a hotel, convention centre. The apron will measure 115 metres by 106 metres, suitable for parking two Airbus A321 aircraft. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project on 9 February 2019.
History.
In 2007, the State Government had chosen Banderdeva, 25 km from Itanagar, as a suitable location for the project. The then Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, laid the foundation stone on 20 February 2007 for the project. However, the technical committee of the AAI rejected the site and recommended Holongi as an alternative site for the project in 2011. AAI had recommended Holongi on grounds of operational safety, lower costs of construction and ease of future expansion. The Holongi site lay on flat ground, had better usability in poor weather and offered scope for easy construction and expansion. The Banderdeva site, on the other hand, was surrounded by hilly terrain and permitted operation of aircraft from only one direction. The cost of construction was estimated at Rs. 980 crore for Banderdeva, as against Rs. 650 crore for the Holongi site. The differences between AAI and the state government caused a dispute that resulted in the project getting delayed. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) eventually stepped in to put an end to the dispute in July 2012 and the Holongi site was finalised.