The report on the ongoing feasibility exercise to find out if Umroi Airport can be expanded or not is likely to be submitted within the next three months.
Commissioner and Secretary in the Transport Department, Sanjay Goyal, said that the survey work has already begun and it is expected that at least some results will be ready in three months’ time.
Umroi Airport, which serves Shillong, cannot cater to jet planes, instead being limited to smaller turboprops, which have a shorter range and can carry fewer passengers. The reason is the runway, which is not long enough for jet planes. The feasibility study will indicate whether there is any scope for expansion of the airport or not.
Extending the runway has not been deemed possible up to now because of the need to shave off a few hills in the vicinity of the airport. This was estimated to cost a whopping Rs 7,000 crore. Instead, an alternative site for a new airport was sought but the cost of purchasing the necessary land and then developing it was also massive.
Meanwhile, Goyal also informed that the state government has received interest from more operators who are eager to connect Shillong with more cities. Pre-bid discussions are currently ongoing.
While Umroi has connections with several North East cities and Kolkata through the central government’s subsidised UDAN scheme, the state government has entered into a partnership with SpiceJet to fly from Umroi to New Delhi. This flight is not daily, however, and the government is looking to introduce one as well as flights to Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.
Flying may be becoming more and more attractive as flights are added but the connection between Shillong and Umroi has been a bit of a put-off for travellers with taxi and other transport operators sometimes charging exorbitant fares. On this, Goyal said that the rates for taxi fares have been notified last week, with the department factoring in the fact that taxis often have to return empty on one leg as there is still not enough demand to fill capacity.
The government is also looking to introduce bus connections at designated times.
