On Saturday, flight operation begins at Sikkim only airport Pakyong, near Gangtok after nearly an interval of 18 months,
A private airline carrying 57 passengers from Delhi landed at Pakyong around noon. The flight returned with 21 passengers. This was the first flight to connect Sikkim and the national capital.
Kapil Meena, Secretary, Sikkim tourism stated, “This may increase the tourism sector of the state. It is a vital step as many individuals have been demanding a direct flight from Pakyong to Delhi. We’re getting plenty of travelers from Delhi. Now the travelers can take a direct flight from Pakyong to Delhi.”
Greenfield Airport in Pakyong remained non-operational because of technical causes and unsure climate situations, with its high-altitude, table-top runway, Pakyong has lengthy struggled with visibility concern, leading to air operations being stalled after a year-long operation since 2019. The airport, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2018.
To ease the visibility concern, the Airports Authority of India has reached a consensus with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to introduce the Required Navigation Performance System, particularly to Pakyong Airport only within the nation.
Required navigation performance (RNP) is a sort of performance-based navigation (PBN) that permits an aircraft to fly a specific path between two 3D-defined points in space. A navigation specification that includes a requirement for on-board navigation efficiency monitoring and alerting is known as an RNP specification. An RNP of 10 signifies that a navigation system should be capable of calculating its position within a circle with a radius of 10 nautical miles.
The airport can also be vital for its strategic location close to the international border.
