Mizoram govt to not sell/transfer Lengpui airport completely to Indian Air Force: CM's adviser

The Mizoram government has not considered selling or completely transferring the state’s lone Lengpui airport to the Indian Air Force (IAF), Chief Minister Lalduhoma’s Finance Adviser, TBC Lalvenchhunga said.

He added that the government is only exploring the possibilities to modernise the Lengpui airport, which is owned and managed by the state government, through the IAF,

The issue of handing over the airport, located nearly 32 km from the state capital Aizawl, to the IAF has been brewing for the last few years. The current ZPM government has formed a working committee headed by Lalvenchhunga on the matter.

"There is no intention of either selling or completely transferring the Lengpui airport. Some people develop a feeling that it will be handed over to the IAF within a day or two. We are only exploring possibilities to improve and modernise the airport through the Air Force," Lalvenchunga said while addressing a party programme.

He said that the working committee is conducting an in-depth study as well as assessing the feasibility of transferring the Lengpui airport to the IAF or other agencies and several experts have also been consulted on the matter.

According to Lalvenchhunga who is also an MLA, several attempts had been made in the past by the previous Mizo National Front (MNF) and the Congress governments to hand over the airport to other agencies due to maintenance challenges.

In 2011, the Congress dispensation had given 32 acres of land to the IAF for parking jet fighters, he said.

Similarly, the MNF government headed by Zoramthanga had also given "no objection" to the AIF to own 97 acres of land at Lengpui and another 5 acres at Sihphir in 2019 and 2022 respectively, the ZPM leader said.

He also claimed that the MNF government failed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India to hand over Lengpui airport to it due to the change in power.

"We are only pursuing the steps which have been taken by the previous governments," Lalvenchhunga said.

The government's plan to hand over the airport to IAF has received resistance from opposition parties particularly MNF and Congress and some organisations, including the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the largest civil society organisation in the state.

Lengpui Airport, constructed in 1998, is located approximately 32 km north of Mizoram capital Aizawl. It is the first in India to be constructed by a state government, according to the Airports Authority of India website. (With PTI inputs)