Greenfield airport in Sikkim approved

New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) The government Thursday approved the construction of a greenfield airport in Sikkim.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs, science and technology minister Kapil Sibal said the new airport at Pakyong will have a 1,700-metre-long runway, two parking bays and a capacity to handle 100 passengers - 50 arriving and 50 departing - at a time.

The new airport is about 35 km from the state capital Gangtok.

'Sikkim is a landlocked state with connectivity only by road but has substantial scope for tourism due to its scenic and natural beauty. As such, direct air connectivity to Sikkim is essential from socio-economic and strategic considerations,' said Sibal.

India has 133 airports including 14 international airports besides the two greenfield airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore.

According to the civil aviation ministry, India will have 35 greenfield airports by 2010 on an investment of over Rs.1,400 billion.

The Airports Authority of India has planned investments of Rs.400 billion for developing India's airport infrastructure in the next five years.