Though the Centre has promised enhancement of air connectivity to the remote and hilly areas including that of Northeast to ensure the Government Policy of the last mile connectivity, the lone airport of Sikkim at Pakyong still does not have an Instrument Landing System (ILS).

Air travel in Sikkim gets disrupted for almost five to six months in a year largely affecting the flow of tourists in the state.

The issue was flagged by Sikkim government to the Centre in the Conference for Ministers of Civil Aviation for all states and Union Territories at New Delhi from October 17-18. The conference was attended by Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Sikkim Additional Chief Secretary M.L Srivastava, flagged many issues pertaining to Pakyong Greenfield airport to the Ministry, the most urgent being the long pending demand for installation of Instrument Landing System.

WHAT IS ILS: Instrument Landing System (ILS) is a standard International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) precision landing aid that is used to provide accurate azimuth and descent guidance signals for guidance to aircraft for landing on the runway under normal or adverse weather conditions. Instrument landing system (ILS) facility is a highly accurate and dependable means of navigating to the runway in IFR conditions. The ILS provides the lateral and vertical guidance necessary to fly a precision approach. When all components of the ILS system are available, including the approved approach procedure, the pilot may execute a precision approach

He elaborated on the weather condition of the state due to which, the air travel in the state gets disrupted for almost five to six months in a year largely affecting the flow of tourists in the state. Sikkim got 511669 domestic tourists in 2021.

He urged the Government of India for making necessary technical interventions to facilitate landing even in low relative visibility in order to minimize flight cancellations.

In fact, SpiceJet has announced to stop flight services to Sikkim's Pakyong Airport. It is the only carrier that runs daily flights to and from the greenfield airport in Sikkim's Pakyong.

SpiceJet said they have decided to suspend services in the hill state from October 30 due to "operational constraints". According to a spokesperson of the budget airline, bad weather and low visibility were bottlenecks that led to the operational constraints. "SpiceJet flights to and from Pakyong airport have been temporarily suspended with effect from October 30, 2022, due to operational constraints owing to the bad weather condition and low visibility at Pakyong”.

SpiceJet had started its first-ever non-stop flight between Kolkata and Pakyong under the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme.

Srivastava also requested not just for continuation but also for enhancement of flight operations by the airlines to Pakyong Airport through the Winter Schedule i.e from the month of October to March 2023, as weather remains mostly favourable for flight operations during his period. He also proposed for development of one heliport in each district keeping in line with the National Civil Aviation Policy.

Pakyong airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 24, 2018. Spread over 201 acres, the airport is located at Pakyong about 31 km south of Gangtok. At 4,646 ft, Pakyong Airport is one of the five highest airports in India

Sikkim was represented by the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation, M.L Srivastava along with his team of officers including a Nodal Officer for Airport Security, Praveen Gurung (DIG Range) from the Police Department.

The Ministry recorded the submission of various states and assured necessary support to each state’s concerns seeking mutual cooperation and support on the part of the states too.

The high level conference focused on improvement and strengthening of the National Civil Aviation Sector in view of the fact that the country is likely to experience a strong demand for air travel from the Civil Aviation Market and the rest of the world.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, in his address laid special emphasis on enhancement of air connectivity to the remote and hilly areas including that of North East to ensure the Government Policy of the Last Mile Connectivity.

He also laid emphasis on the improvement of helicopter services and connectivity especially on HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Services) and in the areas where construction of airports was not feasible. He further urged the states to explore all possibilities of augmenting their air transport services on the lines of Air Cargo Operations and MROs as they hold tremendous demand in the international civil aviation market.

The conference also drew special attention from the states for embracing and absorbing Drone Technology as this was going to be a technology of the near future. Stating that the Drone Technology has already made a headway in certain sectors like land use mapping, agriculture and construction, it is bound to penetrate all other sectors for day to day usage. The meeting also discussed and provided directions to the various states on the matters of RCS (Regional Connectivity Scheme) UDAN, Krishi UDAN Scheme 2.0, Heli Sewa, Civil Aviation Security, establishment of FTOs, and convergence with DoNER Ministry.

Union Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal said domestic air traffic is almost near to the pre-Covid level, multiple new airports have been inaugurated, and new routes have been launched, policy steps to promote drone, Helicopter Medical Emergency Services and Fractional Ownership have been initiated. The Secretary requested states to reduce VAT on ATF and appreciated those states who have already done it.

Subjects of Infrastructure support such as the extent of land requirement for different types of airports, pending cases of handing over of land, Taxation related issues such as VAT, tax incentives for promoting FTO, MRO, etc., Civil Aviation Policies of States / UTs such as articulating the States / UTs Civil Aviation Policies and its components, Sharing the best practices of States like UP, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, NER, etc., and promotion of last mile connectivity were discussed during the conference.

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