Donyi Polo Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Serves | Itanagar | ||||||||||
| Location | Hollongi,Papum Pare district,Arunachal Pradesh,India | ||||||||||
| Opened | 19 November 2022; 2 years ago (2022-11-19)[1][2] | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 328 ft / 100 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 26°58′12″N93°39′53″E / 26.97000°N 93.66472°E /26.97000; 93.66472 | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  HGI Location of airport in Arunachal Pradesh Show map of Arunachal Pradesh HGI HGI (India) Show map of India | |||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (April 2023 – March 2024) | |||||||||||
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Donyi Polo Airport (IATA:HGI,ICAO:VEHO), also known asHollongi Airport, is adomestic airport servingItanagar, the capital city ofArunachal Pradesh,India. It is located at Hollongi, situated 14 km (8.7 mi) south from the city centre, in thePapum Pare district. It is built by theAirports Authority of India, over an area of 320 hectares. The airport is the 16th airport ofNortheast India.[6][7]Prime MinisterNarendra Modi laid thefoundation stone for the airport on 9 February 2019.[8] Construction was started on 15 December 2020, and was inaugurated on 19 November 2022, with flight services started byIndiGo toKolkata andMumbai from 28 November 2022.[9][10][11]
In 2007, theGovernment of Arunachal Pradesh had chosen Banderdeva, situated 25 km from Itanagar, as a suitable location for the project. The thenHome Minister,Shivraj Patil, laid the foundation stone on 20 February 2007 for the project.[12] 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 the 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. ThePrime Minister's Office (PMO) eventually stepped in to put an end to the dispute in July 2012, and the Hollongi site was finalised.[13]
The airport has a single 2,300 metre runway oriented east–west in the first phase, to servenarrow-body aircraft and can be extended to 2,800 metres to landwide-body aircraft. Theairport apron measures 160 metres by 115 metres linked to the runway by two taxiways. It has night landing facilities and navigation facilities likeDVOR andInstrument Landing Systems.[14]
After the creation of theDetailed Project Report (DPR) by AAI, and the laying of the project's foundation stone, the contract for construction work of the project was awarded toDineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon Private Limited (DRA Infracon), who was given a period of 30 months to complete the airport, in February 2020.[14]
| Airlines | Destinations | Refs. |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance Air | Dibrugarh,Pasighat | [citation needed] |
| IndiGo | Delhi,[15]Kolkata,Mumbai | [16] |
