Narendra Modi to inaugurate Sikkim's first airport at Pakyong on 23 September; commercial flights will begin in October

Gangtok: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sikkim on 23 September to inaugurate the state’s first airport at Pakyong, a senior official has said. After inaugurating the airport, the prime minister will address a public meeting at St Xaviers School ground at Pakyong and return to New Delhi the same day, Chief Secretary AK Shrivastava said after chairing a high-level meeting. [caption id=“attachment_4746211” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] The greenfield airport, located 30 kilometres from Gangtok, will put Sikkim on the aviation map of the country. “I am very happy to share that the honourable prime minister is visiting Sikkim for the second time and this time he will be inaugurating the Pakyong Airport which is ready and has undergone trial on two occasions in the month of March, 2018,” the chief secretary said. The state government has been intimated by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Union civil aviation ministry about the prime minister’s visit and the airport inauguration, he said. After the formal inauguration of the airport on 23 September, the commercial operation of flights will commence from the airport in the first week of October, the chief secretary said.