Gangtok, Sikkim
Dated: 11-March-2018
History was made and a new era began in the Sikkim aviation with the first successful landing of a commercial SpiceJet plane on the soil of Sikkim on Saturday, 10th of March. With this landmark achievement, this wonderful Himalayan state will soon be connected to other prominent cities of India through a regular commercial flight service.
The Pakyong Airport in Sikkim was waiting for this moment for so long and the moment finally arrived yesterday at noon when a 70-Seater SpiceJet commercial flight, the Bombardier Q400 aircraft, made a safe landing here.
The flight took off from the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata and landed successfully at the Pakyong Airport, which is located at the distance of 32 km from the Gangtok, capital of Sikkim. The delegates of DGCA from its Kolkata and Delhi offices had also arrived on the SpiceJet flight.
This historic landing was witnessed by a government authority of the Sikkim state headed by the Shri A. K. Srivastav, Chief Secretary of Sikkim. The other top officials of the Sikkim Government present at the moment were the Tourism Secretary, DC East Sikkim, SDM Pakyong Sub Division DGP Sikkim, SP East Sikkim, Pakyong Airport Director, General Manager, ADGP Special Branch and many others.
After this maiden passenger flight landing at the Sikkim Airport, the officials from both sides, the DGCA officials and the Sikkim Government officials, spent more than half an hour on the runway discussing and inspecting the runway with the technical personnel. After a brief stay, the flight took off from the Pakyong Airport to Kolkata with its esteemed passengers.
Just five days before the landing of this passenger flight, an Indian Air Force (IAF) transport plane, Dornier 228 aircraft landed at the Pakyong Airport on the 5th of March. Since the Doklam standoff between India and China near the Sikkim at the conjunction of the India, Bhutan and China Border, the necessity to make the airport operational was on the top priority. It is hoped that the regular flights from Sikkim to Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati will be started very soon.
For the air transportation, the people of Sikkim have to depend on the Bagdogra Airport in Siliguri in the West Bengal. They have to drive around 4 to 5 hours to reach Bagdogra from Gangtok in order to travel to and from other cities of India via airways. The National Highway 10 connecting Siliguri and Gangtok also witness frequent landslides resulting in many incidents of flight misses. With being the Pakyong Airport operational for civilians, the people of Sikkim will get rid of such troubles. This will also significantly boost the Sikkim Tourism sector and the economy of Sikkim.
After this great achievement of landing and takeoff of the first passenger flight, the lone Member of Parliament from Sikkim Shri Prem Das Rai appreciated the success and congratulated everyone who involved in this project by any means. He tweeted, “Sikkim’s first commercial flight landed safely today. Spicejet. Great achievement #SDF government. Congratulation to Airport authority, State Government, State Tourism & Civil Aviation, builders, and land-donors. Well done”.
