The first aircraft of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) — B-350 (King Air), landed at the Hollongi Greenfield Airport on Tuesday morning in order to calibrate the airport instrumentation systems. Few more flights will be test landed to ensure safety of the airport which was built at an estimated cost of Rs. 645 crore. With a runway of 2,300 metres, the Hollongi airport is suitable for landing and take-off of Boeing 747. Most of the works necessitated for operationalization of the airport are scheduled to be completed by 25th of this month. The concerned authorities are agog with the works for getting all clearance for operationalising the airport on time. According to Civil Aviation minister Nakap Nalo, the airport is all set to be operational from 15 August.
As the day for formal inauguration of flight of passenger aircraft is approaching nearer, the responsibility of the citizens of the Itanagar capital region as well the IMC have increased manifold to keep the city more clean and beautiful to attract more tourists. It is expected that formal operationilisation of the Hollongi airport will help increase the foreign as well as domestic tourist flow in the state, and the tourists will keep coming if they are being attracted by the beauty and cleanliness of the state capital. At the same time, the tourism department will have to put extra efforts to lure the tourists who are going to step in the state capital first as airline passengers.