Eclectic Northeast – July 2019

July 2019 │ │ 37

Airports Authority of India also plans to

develop the airports in Imphal and Agartala

along with the LGBI Airport.

terminal building shall spread
over 90,000 square meters and
will be equipped with world-class
passenger facilities and have the
capacity to handle 3100 passengers
during peak hours.’ Not only
that, the decor will reflect the
place and its people. ‘The interiors
of the building will depict local
handicrafts, murals and popular
tourist destinations of Assam.’
Pooja Sarkar, a TFI fellow who
is a frequent traveller shares,
‘The amount of people crossing
through the airport is increasing
each year. And, whenever there
are VIP arrivals or departures,
schedules tend to get affected. The
expansion is essential to ensure
passengers can catch their flights
without much hassle.’

Major Overhaul
At the airport, construction
work for the new building has
already begun with over 200 pillars
being erected at the site. Airport
Director, Ramesh Kumar, while
speaking to Eclectic NorthEast
revealed, ‘The proposal for a new
terminal was made on the basis of
a rise in the footfall at the airport.
The existing terminal, with an
area of 16,800 square meters, was
designed to cater to 3.5 million
passengers annually. However,
between 2015-16, the number
of passenger increased to 3.8
million, with an increase of 8.5%,
in 2016-17. This trend continued.
Guwahati, being a major city in
Assam, and a hub for the region,
recorded 46,68,053 passengers
in the year 2017-18.’ It was the
eighth busiest airport among all
the Airports Authority of India
(AAI) airports in the country in
2017-2018. The new airport will be
able to cater to 3,100 passengers
at peak hour, with 2,900 domestic
and 200 international commuters.

Former Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha inspecting the LGBI Airport before

construction began

New eateries can be seen inside the terminal building as a part of the expansion