Coordinates: 25°42′13″N 091°58′43″E / 25.70361°N 91.97861°E / 25.70361; 91.97861

Shillong Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shillong Airport
Shillong Airport terminal building 4.jpg
  • IATA: SHL
  • ICAO: VEBI
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorAirports Authority of India
ServesShillong, Meghalaya, India
LocationUmroi
Hub forIndiGo
Elevation AMSL887 m / 2,910 ft
Coordinates25°42′13″N 091°58′43″E / 25.70361°N 91.97861°E / 25.70361; 91.97861
Websiteaai.aero/allAirports/shillong
Map
SHL is located in Meghalaya
SHL
SHL
Location of Airport in India
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 1,829 6,000 Concrete

Shillong Airport, (IATA: SHL, ICAO: VEBI) is a civilian airport located at Umroi, 30 km (19 mi) from Shillong, Meghalaya, India.

History[]

The airport was constructed in the mid-1960s and became operational in the mid-1970s. Land measuring 224.16 acres was acquired for expansion of the airport in 2009. The work commenced in June 2009 and was completed in May 2010.[1] The new terminal building, built at a cost of Rs. 30 crore, was inaugurated in June 2011.[2]

In 2015, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) was allotted land for the further expansion of the airport.[3] In 2017, AAI upgraded infrastructure at Shillong, with the installation of an Instrument landing system (ILS), construction of two refuelling facilities, extension of runway and removal of flight-path obstructions.[4] The airport received its Category 3C license from the Indian DGCA in June 2019, allowing operations of Q400/ ATR 72 aircraft.[5] IndiGo began operations using an ATR-72 from Shillong on 20 July 2019 under the UDAN scheme with a daily flight from Kolkata airport.[6]

The present 6,000 ft runway was planned to be extended to about 8,000 feet to facilitate operation of narrow body jet aircraft like Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.[7] However, this would require the cutting of clusters of hillocks that would come in the way of approaching aircraft after the runway was extended. The cost of this obstacle removal was ₹ 8,000 Crores.[8] The Meghalaya Chief minister stated that it would be difficult to go ahead with expansion of the airport at that cost.[9]

Airlines and destinations[]

AirlinesDestinations
Alliance AirAizawl, Dimapur, Guwahati
IndiGo Agartala, Dibrugarh,[10] Imphal,[11] Kolkata, Silchar

References[]

  1. ^ "Expansion of Air Connectivity in North-East". Pib.nic.in. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Shillong airport's new terminal to open on Saturday". The Economic Times. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Land handed over to AAI for Umroi Airport expansion work". The Shillong Times. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  4. ^ "India's Shillong airport to be north eastern hub". Ch-aviation. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Umroi Airport gets nod to install advanced ILS". Shillong Times. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  6. ^ "IndiGo service begins at Shillong". The Assam Tribune. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Defence ministry refuses to give land for Shillong airport". Daily News & Analysis. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  8. ^ "IGive list of hurdles that impede Boeing jet landing in Shillong: HC to DGCA". Business Standard. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  9. ^ "IFinancial probs deter expansion of Shillong airport". The Northeast Today. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  10. ^ "IndiGo New Flights Information". IndiGo. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Three new flights to Raipur, Shillong from Kolkata | Kolkata News". The Times of India.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""