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Itanagar Airport (IATA: HGI, ICAO: VEHO), also known as Hollongi Airport and officially named as Donyi Polo Airport, is a greenfield airport, which will serve Itanagar, the capital city of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It has been constructed at Hollongi, situated 14 kilometres south from the city centre, in the Papum Pare district. It is built by the Airports Authority of India, over an area of 320 hectares. The project entails construction of a 2,300 metre runway, a terminal building measuring 5,100 square metres to handle 200 passengers during peak hours, an Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, a technical block and a fire station, with provisions for commercial activities such as a hotel and a convention centre. The apron will measure 115 metres by 106 metres, suitable for parking two Airbus A321 aircraft.[1] Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the airport on 9 February 2019.[2] Construction was started on 15 December 2020, and will be inaugurated November 2022, but it was brought forward to 15 August 2022 to mark 75 years of India's Independence.[3] However, due to some technical problems, the airport's opening date is now confirmed to November 2022.[4]

Itanagar Airport
IATA: HGI ICAO: VEHO
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Itanagar
Location	Hollongi
Opened	TBA
Elevation AMSL	328 ft / 100 m
Coordinates	26°58′12″N 93°39′53″E
Map
HGI Location of airport in Arunachal Pradesh Show map of Arunachal Pradesh HGI HGI (India) Show map of India
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 08/26 7,546 2,300

History

In 2007, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh had chosen Banderdeva, situated 25 km from Itanagar, as a suitable location for the project. The then Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, laid the foundation stone on 20 February 2007 for the project.[5] However, the technical committee of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) rejected the site and recommended Holongi as an alternative site for the project in 2011. AAI had recommended Hollongi on grounds of operational safety, lower costs of construction and ease of future expansion. The Hollongi site lay on flat ground, had better usability in poor weather and offered scope for easy construction and expansion. The Banderdeva site, on the other hand, was surrounded by hilly terrain and permitted operation of aircraft from only one direction. The cost of construction was estimated at ₹ 980 crore for Banderdeva, as against ₹ 650 crore for the Hollongi site. The differences between AAI and the state government caused a dispute that resulted in the project getting delayed. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) eventually stepped in to put an end to the dispute in July 2012, and the Hollongi site was finalised.[6]

Features

• The airport will have a single 2,300 metre runway oriented east–west in the first phase, to serve narrow-body aircraft and can be extended to 2,800 metres to land wide-body aircraft. The airport apron will measure 160 metres by 115 metres linked to the runway by two taxiways. It will have night landing facilities and navigation facilities like DVOR and Instrument Landing Systems.[7]

Construction

• After the creation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) by AAI, and the laying of the project's foundation stone, the contract for construction work of the project was awarded to Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon Private Limited (DRA Infracon), who has been given a period of within 30 months to complete the airport, in February 2020.[7]

Status updates

• Aug 2014: Airports Authority of India (AAI) completed Detailed Project Report (DPR).[8]
• Feb 2019: Foundation stone for the project laid on 9 February 2019.
• Feb 2020: Contract awarded by Airports Authority of India to DRA Infracon Private Limited.
• Jan 2022: The airport is 80% completed, and is expected to be fully completed by 15 August 2022.[9]
• Jul 2022: The first test flight successfully landed at the airport, and is expected to become operational by 15 August.[10][11]
• Aug 2022: The inauguration date is rescheduled to October, due to some technical problems with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).[12]
• Oct 2022: IndiGo landed their first test flight in the airport. The airport is confirmed to be opened on November 2022.[13]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
IndiGo	Kolkata, Mumbai (both begin 28 November 2022)[14]

See also

• Tezu Airport
• Pasighat Airport
• Zero Airport

References

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