Sikkim ready to get its first airport by 2014

drkrn

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
2,455
Likes
902
Sikkim's first airport will be completed by end-2014 providing much-needed air connectivity to the landlocked state, Tourism Minister Bhim Prasad Dhungel said here Thursday.

Speaking after meeting union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi, Dhungel said the airport at Pakyong, 30 km south of the state capital Gangtok, is being constructed by the Airports Authority of India on 200 acres of land. At an altitude of 4,700 feet, it will be one of the five highest airports in India.

"Work is in full swing and flights will begin from March 2015," Dhungel said.

"The airport has a 180-metre-long airstrip and will facilitate flights of ATR-7 (twin-engined short-haul turboprops) planes and will also have hangars for two ATRs," Dhungel added.

At present, the nearest airport to Gangtok is located 124 kilometres away at Bagdogra in West Bengal.

The Pakyong airport will open an alternative connectivity route for the state as at present it has to solely depend on National Highway-31 for connectivity to the rest of the country.

"The airport will facilitate free movement when the national highway is blocked by protestors from time to time," said Dhungel.

The airport will have a terminal building which can accommodate 100 people and a car park for 80 vehicles.

Dhungel also requested the tourism minister to provide central assistance of Rs.20 crore for upgrading helipads in the state.
Sikkim’s First Airport To Be Ready By 2014

@Kunal Biswas any insight about military implications sir..thank you in advance
 
Last edited by a moderator:

arnabmit

Homo Communis Indus
Senior Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Messages
6,242
Likes
7,522
Country flag
[map]https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=27.232195,88.588772&spn=0.033541,0.066047&t=h&z=15[/map]

Ridge top has already been flattened. Current planned runway is 1.8km, and there is no space to increase it further. However since C-130J needs 1Km and C-17 needs 1.6Km of runway, both will be able to take off and land here.

Pakyong airport could be a good point to deploy troops to Gurudongmar FOB. Road travel to Gurudongmar FOB would be cut from 260km from Bagdogra which will take 3 days, to 185Km from Pakyong airport which can be covered in 2 days.
 

drkrn

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
2,455
Likes
902
[map]https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=27.232195,88.588772&spn=0.033541,0.066047&t=h&z=15[/map]

Ridge top has already been flattened. Current planned runway is 1.8km, and there is no space to increase it further. However since C-130J needs 1Km and C-17 needs 1.6Km of runway, both will be able to take off and land here.
thanks for info.but i think they will sort out to increase the runway if necessity arises.
immediate need is airports like these in NE
 

SLASH

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
1,156
Likes
459
Any info on the cities that it will be connected to?
 

SLASH

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
1,156
Likes
459
I mean which major cities will be connected by flight? Generally most of the small airports are generally only connected to the nearest metro.
 

arnabmit

Homo Communis Indus
Senior Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Messages
6,242
Likes
7,522
Country flag
Considering the limited length of the runway, we will probably see only small turboprops and private jets operating, which means, connectivity may be to Bagdogra and Kolkata, maybe even Guwahati.

I mean which major cities will be connected by flight? Generally most of the small airports are generally only connected to the nearest metro.
 

Decklander

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2012
Messages
2,654
Likes
4,111
I have operated to every civil airport including Leh while flying A-320, I wud love to fly to this new airport also.
 

tarunraju

Sanathan Pepe
Mod
Joined
Sep 18, 2009
Messages
9,080
Likes
40,077
Country flag
Hope it has direct flights from major cities, and not entail a changeover at Kolkata. Will definitely mark it a weekend getaway.
 

Ray

The Chairman
Professional
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
43,132
Likes
23,834
Where is it being located?

At the Gangtok military helipad?

Added Later:

OK, I used the image URL and saw the remainder of the writing that did not come on my screen.

So, it is at Pakyong
 
Last edited:

Ray

The Chairman
Professional
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
43,132
Likes
23,834
More details on the airport

The airport(Greenfield Airport) is being constructed by Punj Lloyd.

It is Located in East Sikkim at an altitude of 1700m(5577 ft), close to the borders with Bhutan and Tibet.

It is is connected by an all-weather metalled highway, NH-31A which runs from Siliguri to Gangtok. The NH-31A can be accessed from Pakyong at Ranipool (18 km) or at Rangpo (26 km).

The attractions in Pakyong are the Shivalaya temple, Pacheykhani cave, Changey monastery, Devi Mandir,Karthok monastery and Monks' Retreat Centre.Wednesday Bazar 'hart' is a popular local attraction.

One can go for treeking to Jhandi dara,which is located at top most part of Pakyong and see the amazing view from there.It is around three hours journey by foot from main town.

So don't forget that when you land there, go and have a ball even before hitting Gangtok and elsewhere.

At the St Xaviers school out there, Naichung Bhutia used to study, as also Anil Kumar Yadav, who is working as Deputy General Manager in Reserve Bank of India.
 

drkrn

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
2,455
Likes
902
what farms over airport?

then what about security?

the airport should be on top, not on the slopes.
first it says there is a possibility.

second vegetation of any sort will always prevent soil from getting eroded,hence useful to some extent for airport reducing land slides(personal opinion)

third,area in such areas is restricted
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top