Sikkim’s 1st Airport To Be Inaugurated Today!

Pakyong Airport In Sikkim is all set to open today, nine years after the foundation stone was laid.

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, will be present to inaugurate the airport which is Sikkim’s, first and only aerodrome.

He took to social media and tweeted saying that after Jharkhand he will be leaving for Sikkim to inaugurate the Pakyong Airport. The tweet also mentioned that the airport will improve connectivity and benefit the people of Sikkim.

Here are a few interesting facts about Sikkim’s new airport :

• The airport is spread over 201 acres and is located on top of a hill about two km from Pakyong village at 4,500 feet above sea level.
• It is constructed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at an estimated cost of Rs 605 crore.
• the airport is seen as an engineering marvel for its soil reinforcement and slope stabilisation techniques, keeping in view the altitude it was built at.
• The airport comprises of an ATC tower-cum-fire station, a terminal building for passengers, high-intensity runway lights and parking for over 50 vehicles.
• Apart from this, the reinforcement wall of the project is 80-meter-high and is one of the tallest in the world.
• The airport has a 1.75 km runway with a width of 30 meters. It has a 116-meter-long taxiway connecting it to a parking bay that can accommodate 2 ATR (Regional) Aircraft.
• The airport has a 3,000 sq meter terminal building and has a capacity to handle 50 inbound and outbound passengers.
• The first commercial flight from Pakyong would begin from October 4.
• Initially, the airport would only cater to domestic flights, but later it will also provide international flight services connecting Sikkim with other countries like Paro in Bhutan, Kathmandu in Nepal and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
• There is also plan to construct another 75-meter stretch adjacent to the main runway in the coming days, which would allow the Indian Air Force (IAF) to land various types of aircraft on the airport’s runway