The ambitious plan for Birsi airport at Gondia, the hometown of Praful Patel, to have a 3,200 meters long runway, has finally materialised. This equals the runway length at Nagpur airport, which has an international airport, enabling the landing of larger aircraft like Airbus 320 or Boeing 737s.
Once fitted with an instrument landing system (ILS), and work on runway lights underway, the Birsi airport is expected to be ready for night landing in just over a month, after approval by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The runway at Birsi has been extended by 1,000 meters to take it to the current length of 3,200 meters to enable the landing of larger aircraft.
This was part of the master plan drawn up in 2009 when Patel was Civil Aviation Minister. The airport was being built with much bigger ideas, but the plans did not materialise after the government changed, said sources. Currently, Gondia has a single commercial flight connecting it to Hyderabad. CAE-Gondia, a joint venture of the Airports Authority of India and the National Flight Training Institute, also operates from there. With a longer runway, AAI, which runs the airport, is eyeing connectivity to other centers too.