Pasighat
Pasighat is the headquarters of East Siang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Situated at the eastern foothills of the Himalayas at above mean sea level, Pasighat is Arunachal's oldest town. The Government of India included Pa ...
,
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
History
The airstrip was laid down during the
Sino-Indian War of 1962
The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tib ...
and saw little use after the war until the Indian Air Force signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh to develop the airstrip in 2009. The IAF took over the airstrip in February 2010. An Air Traffic Control Tower, apron for parking aircraft, a perimeter road and security wall was constructed. The upgraded airstrip was inaugurated by
Kiren Rijiju
Kiren Rijiju (born 19 November 1971) is an Indian politician from Arunachal Pradesh who serves as the Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice in the Government of India.
Early life
Rijiju was born on 19 November 1971 at Nakhu near Nafra in West K ...
in August 2016 and a
Sukhoi Su-30MKI
The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a twinjet Multirole combat aircraft, multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian A ...
fighter of the
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
landed on the airstrip as part of the inaugural function.
Current status
* The
Airports Authority of India
The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...
(AAI) operates a civil enclave at Pasighat. A new passenger terminal was built in 2017. A helicopter service on behalf of the
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...
government is operated by
Pawan Hans
Pawan Hans Limited is a central public sector undertaking based at Noida in Delhi NCR, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It has cumulatively flown more than 1 million hours and has had 2 ...
between Pasighat and various regional stations.
* In April 2018, an
Air India Regional
Alliance Air (formerly Air India Regional) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIAHL (AI Assets Holding Ltd.) which is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV ) formed by Government of India after the disinvestment of Air India Limited. It was founded in ...
ATR-42 aircraft carried out a test landing at the Pasighat ALG, in preparation for scheduled commercial services. The commercial flights commenced on May 21, 2018 when
Alliance Air (India)
Alliance Air (formerly Air India Regional) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIAHL (AI Assets Holding Ltd.) which is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV ) formed by Government of India after the disinvestment of Air India Limited. It was founded in ...
's 42-seater ATR aircraft from
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
landed at the airport with Chief Minister
Pema Khandu
Pema Khandu (born 21 August 1979) is an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. He is son of former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu. Since assuming office of chief minister in July 2016, he and his govern ...
and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein. The connectivity comes under the Government's Regional Connectivity Scheme called
UDAN
''Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik'' (Hindi for "Let the common citizens of the country fly"), known by its acronym ''UDAN'' (Hindi for "flight") is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connectivi ...
.
Airlines and destinations
See also
*
Itanagar Airport
Itanagar Airport (IATA: HGI, ICAO: VEHO), also known as Hollongi Airport and officially named as Donyi Polo Airport, is a domestic airport serving Itanagar, the capital city of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is located at Hollongi, situated sou ...
*
Tezu Airport
Tezu Airport is a regional airport serving Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which upgraded it to handle ATR 72, ATR-72 aircraft with night-landing facility. Prime Minister of India, Prime ...