INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Pakyong airport: PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Sikkim's first airport on Monday.Pakyong: Nine years after the foundation stone of Sikkim's
first - and only - airport was laid, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Pakyong airport today
The greenfield airport is expected to improve the connectivity to the land-locked state nestled in the Himalayas and give a boost to its
tourism.Commercial flight operations from the Pakyong airport, around 33 km from Gangtok, would begin from October 4, Pakyong Airport
Director R Manjunatha said
Sikkim was the only state in India remaining without a functional airport. Addressing people at a school in Pakyong after the inauguration,
PM Modi said Pakyong airport is the "symbol of our engineering skills"
"I want to congratulate all the engineers and workers who planned and built this airport
A lot of work is happening in the northeast for the first time since Independence
In some places airports, railways and even electricity reached for the first time," PM Modi said.PM Modi landed in state capital Gangtok on
He was received by Governor Ganga Prasad and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling
On his way, he clicked scenic pictures of the state from the MI-8 chopper and shared them on Twitter.Sikkim's Pakyong airport is spread
over 201 acres at 4,500 feet above sea level.SpiceJet will operate 78-seater Bombardier Q400 flights to and from Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati
everyday.The airport is spread over 201 acres and is located on top of a hill about two km above Pakyong village at 4,500 feet above sea
level, Sikkim Chief Secretary AK Srivastava said. Sikkim's Pakyong airport has a 1.75 km runway and a 116-metre-long taxiway.The airport
was built at an estimated cost of Rs 605 crore and is an "engineering marvel" for its soil reinforcement and slope stabilisation techniques
keeping in view the altitude it was built at, the officer said.Sikkim's Pakyong airport is spread over 201 acres and is located on top of a
hill.Located about 60 km from the India-China border, Pakyong airport will be the 100th operational airport in India.The runway of the
Pakyong airport is 1.75 kmThe airport was constructed by the Airports Authority of India and at present, the nearest airport from Sikkim is
located 124 km away in Bagdogra in West Bengal.(With inputs from PTI)
