India’s 100th airport opens in Sikkim

PM calls it an engineering marvel

This handout photo released by India's Press Information Bureau and taken on September 24, 2018, shows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the Pakyong Airport in Gangtok. (Photo by Handout / PIB / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / PIB" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS -

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the first airport in Sikkim ; with this inauguration, the number of functional airports in the country went up to 100.

“This is a historic day for the State of Sikkim and also an important day for the rest of India. With this inauguration, the country has hit a century (in the number of airports),” Mr. Modi said while addressing a gathering at Pakyong in Sikkim. The Prime Minister described the airport as an “engineering marvel”, and said that within a week or two, regular flights to Kolkata and Guwahati would be started.

The airport at Pakyong, about 30 km from Gangtok and surrounded by mountains, is a major boost to connectivity in the mountainous State.

Mr. Modi said the airport would be linked to the Union government’s UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) regional connectivity scheme and the airfare for about an hour would come to ₹2,500.

The airport had been constructed at an estimated cost of ₹605 crore.