The North Eastern Council (NEC) has so far sanctioned a quantum of Rs 19.42 crore for the infrastructure development of the airport, an official statement said here today.
At a meeting with officials from the Ministry, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Mizoram government recently, Mr Handique said his Ministry is committed to strengthening airport infrastructure for various airports in the region with special focus on airports like Lengpui which falls in a landlocked state like Mizoram. '
'Immediate steps need to be taken to mitigate topographic obstructions at the Lengpui airport for clearance of the ILS, which in turn will increase the frequency of regular flights to and from Mizoram,'' he added.
He said after the implementation of the system, this will be the first airport offering regular flights to and from Mizoram. Presently, there are no regular flights to the state due to issues related to bad terrain, civil aviation security concerns and lack of ILS equipment.
According to the statement, the meeting decided that the civil works pertaining to the ILS at Lengpui airport would be completed by March 31 this year.
The DGCA is likely to give clearance for the ILS pursuant to which a team of pilots would be trained to operate to and from the airport. The training will commence two days after the completion. The Ministry also expedited some pending airport projects, including the recently sanctioned project for upgrade and operationalisation of airport at Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh at a total cost of Rs 79 crore.
Arrangements for air services in the northeastern region with alliance air have been renewed for two more years up to December 2011 and a more lasting and viable solution to the vexing problem of intra-regional connectivity was being examined by the Ministry.