The Guwahati airport, the only international airfield inthe northeastern region, is being prepared to handle about one crore passengersevery year. The cost of the project is Rs 1,232 crore and the project isscheduled to be completed by 2022.
Officials of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said thatthe Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport, earlier known as Guwahati Airport, currently handlesover 6 million passengers annually and the under construction terminal buildingwould be capable of handling 4,300 domestic and 200 international passengersper day and about 10 million passengers annually.
"Equipped with 64 check-in counters, 20 self-check inkiosks, six baggage carousels, in-line baggage security screening system and 10aero-bridges, the new terminal would be an energy efficient building," anofficial said.
The AAI said in a release that Guwahati is one of thefastest growing cities in India and also has connectivity with the South-EastAsia region, and is thus going to attract more passengers in the coming years.
Going against the general trend, air passenger movement inIndia has been growing since July, claimed a report.
There are 12 airports in the northeast - Guwahati, Silchar,Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tezpur (all Assam), Tezu and Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh),Agartala (Tripura), Imphal (Manipur), Shillong (Meghalaya), Dimapur (Nagaland)and Lengpui (Mizoram).
The AAI shared glowing statistics. Guwahati has registered 111 per cent increasein airline passengers from 2,812 on July 10 to 5,924 on September 10. TheAgartala airport witnessed a 104 per cent increase, Assam's Dibrugarh 126 percent and Imphal 66.5 per cent.