Modi govt built 7 airports in northeast against 9 between 1947-2014: Officials

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the inauguration of the New Greenfield Airport at Pakyong, in Gangtok, Sikkim. (File image: PTI)

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to inaugurate the Donyi Polo airport in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday, officials said the current dispensation has built seven airports in the northeast region since 2014 against nine airports built between 1947-2014.

Arunachal Pradesh's first greenfield airport, Donyi Polo, in Itanagar will be the third operational airport in the state. Its foundation stone was laid by Modi in February, 2019. It has been completed within a short span of time despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, they said.

This rapid development of airports in the region has been possible due to the special emphasis of the prime minister on enhancing connectivity in the northeast, they said. Airports in the five northeastern states of Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland have seen flights take off for the first time in 75 years, they added.

Aircraft movement in the region has also witnessed an increase of 113 percent since 2014, from 852 per week in 2014 to 1,817 per week in 2022.