Dibrugarh: The Dibrugarh Press Club has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to facilitate the early launch of regular scheduled night flight services from Dibrugarh Airport and expedite its proposed upgrade to an international airport.
In a memorandum submitted on Wednesday, the Press Club said the demand has been consistently raised over the past few years through representations submitted in December 2023, December 2024 and May 2025. The memorandum was signed by Press Club President Manash Jyoti Dutta, Vice President Anil Kumar Poddar and General Secretary Ripunjoy Das.
The organisation stated that Dibrugarh has evolved into Assam’s second capital with the establishment of Secretariat and Legislative Assembly infrastructure, while also emerging as the commercial, industrial, educational and healthcare centre of Upper Assam. It noted that the airport serves millions of passengers from Upper Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and neighbouring districts, making it one of the busiest airports in eastern India.
Despite having night landing facilities since 2010 and successfully handling its first evening landing in December 2014, the airport is yet to introduce regular scheduled night flights, the memorandum said. According to the Press Club, the delay is primarily due to a shortage of airport operational staff and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, resulting in the airport functioning in a single shift.
The memorandum also highlighted the airport’s ongoing infrastructure expansion, including the completion of one of the largest Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) complexes in the Northeast. It added that work on a new passenger terminal and installation of an advanced radar system is also progressing.
The Press Club said the absence of evening and night flight services continues to inconvenience business travellers, patients, students, tourists, defence personnel and working professionals, many of whom are compelled to spend additional time and money because of limited flight options.
Highlighting Dibrugarh’s strategic importance under the Centre’s Act East Policy, the organisation said the city has the potential to become a key aviation gateway linking Northeast India with Southeast Asia. It welcomed the government’s proposal to upgrade Dibrugarh Airport into an international airport and urged that the process be completed at the earliest.
The memorandum sought the Prime Minister’s intervention to ensure the immediate commencement of scheduled night flight operations, deployment of adequate airport and CISF personnel, expansion of domestic connectivity through additional evening and night flights, speedy completion of the new terminal building and radar installation, and early declaration of Dibrugarh Airport as an international airport.
The Press Club said these measures would significantly boost trade, tourism, healthcare, education, industry and investment across Assam and the wider Northeast while strengthening the region’s connectivity under the Act East Policy.
Copies of the memorandum were also submitted to Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, State Capital Region Development Authority Chairman and Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan, Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Bikram Kairi and Dibrugarh Airport Director Bangajit Saha for necessary action.