GUWAHATI:
The Rupsi Airport in Assam’s Dhubri district completed one year of successful operations since the resumption of the scheduled domestic air travel from the airport after a gap of 38 years.
“Today is the first anniversary of our successful operations. On May 8, 2021, the first commercial flight landed at Rupsi under UDAN 4.0. Flybig Airline started operating ATR-72 type aircraft for sectors Guwahati-Rupsi-Kolkata and Kolkata-Rupsi-Guwahati marking a historic beginning for the airport,” said a senior official of Airport Authority of India (AAI).
Hemang Arora, officer in-charge of Rupsi Airport said that they have received encouraging response from the passengers.
“Rupsi handled a total of 744 flights with a total passenger footfall of 26,181 in its first year of operations. The passenger response at Rupsi Airport has been very encouraging,” Arora said.
Earlier on May 8, 2021, the director general of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had permitted operations from the airport amidst Covid-19 restrictions.
Developed, operated and maintained by the AAI, the Rupsi Airport is a World War II-era airstrip, which was re-developed under UDAN programme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The only airport located in Lower Assam, Rupsi Airport is catering mostly to passengers from Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Bongaigaon districts, and Cooch Behar, Aliduarpur districts of West Bengal and parts of Bhutan, among others.
People visiting various historical and religious places such as Gauripur Rajbari, Gurudwara Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahi, Dhubri, Ramona National Park and Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary, among others make use of the services of the airport.
The Airport is spread across 337 acres and has a terminal building of 3500 sq mt with a peak passenger handling capacity of 250.
It has a single Runway 05/23 of dimensions 1771M x 30M with two parking bays for ATR-72 type aircraft.
“Initially flight operations at Rupsi Airport were on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and now we have flights to/from Guwahati and Kolkata on all days in a week, except Monday,” said Arora.
The Rupsi Airport has provided connectivity to the locality which has boosted tourism and trade in the region.