New airport in Falam (Surbung) in Chin State, implemented with state budget, will be readied for operation before September 2020, according to Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
“The project is started in 2015-16 FY and about 50 per cent of the project is finished now,” said Win Khant, Permanent Secretary of the ministry.
The government will provide more budgets for the project.
“The project including a retaining wall and a 30-feet long runway are already built. Now we are building another retaining wall and it will be fully functional before at the end of 2020,” said Kyaw Soe, Deputy Director General of the Department for Civil Aviation.
The airport is located in the middle of Chin State and towns such as Falam, Lonpi Taung, Haka, Thantlang and Tiddim Reik Lake can reach all airports in states and regions via this airport. Once this airport is completed, it will become the aerial gateway of Chin State and will enable visitors to reach Chin State in on shorter travel time. The project was started in 2013 and construction began in 2015.
The airport is situated on Surbung mountain range: 8.5 miles northwest of Falam and is at an altitude of 6,000 feet above sea level. The airport runway is to be 6,000 feet in length and 100 feet in width and with a flexible pavement type runway. The overrun has 200 feet in length and 100 feet in width. The place where the aircrafts are to be parked is 250 feet in length and 250 feet in width. The permitted load of the runway is 50,000 pounds and aircrafts such as ATR-72 can land at the airport.
