Dimapur Airport
Dimapur Airport. Image credit - www.tripadvisor.in

A meeting of Nagaland governor RN Ravi and senior officials of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) from Delhi in Kohima decided to develop Dimapur Airport in two phases.

The meeting on Friday follows a recent meeting of Ravi and union minister of state for civil aviation (independent charge) Hardeep Singh Puri.

The meeting also decided to further improve the air connectivity in the state, Raj Bhavan said in a statement on Saturday.

In the phase-I of improvement, it was decided to ensure required extensions of the runway of the airport to enable Airbus and other modern aircraft to operate from Dimapur Airport and also cater to the required security and safety needs besides increased passenger amenities.

The Alliance Air, which is operating on the Guwahati-Dimapur-Imphal route thrice a week, is considering to increase its services and make it daily.

Indigo Air under Regional Connectivity has also assured to introduce its air service from the first week of March by connecting Dimapur with Guwahati, Imphal, and Dibrugarh, it said.

For further improving the regional air connectivity, the civil aviation ministry is exploring the launching of Sea-plane Services in the Northeast.

In Friday’s meeting, such a possibility in Nagaland was also discussed and Doyang Hydel Project site was identified as a potential Sea-plane operating base.

Its technical feasibility will be studied and then taken up with the civil aviation ministry.

Besides, an exercise to locate other potential sites in the state will also be carried out, the statement added.

Bhadra Gogoi is Northeast Now Correspondent in Nagaland. He can be reached at: bhadragogoi@yahoo.com