Sikkim's dream of having an airport came true nine years after a foundation stone of the Greenfield airport was laid, around 33 km from Gangtok, in 2009, today PM Modi inaugurated   India's 100th airport and  Sikkim's first Pakyong Airport.CM Pawan Chamling and  Union Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu were also present at the event.

Pakyong Airport will boost tourism and therefore, employment, revenue and farmers' income in the state, said Civil Aviation minister Suresh Prabhu. On behalf of the people of the state, I thank PM Narendra Modi for the Pakyong Airport, which puts us on India's aviation map, said Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling.

The airport is spread over 201 acres and is located on top of a hill about two km above Pakyong village at 4,500 feet above sea level, Sikkim Chief Secretary A K Srivastava said.

The airport was built by the Airports Authority of India. At present It is the nearest airport from Sikkim , is located 124 km away in Bagdogra in West Bengal. The airport was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 605 crore and is an "engineering marvel" for its soil reinforcement and slope stabilisation techniques keeping in view the altitude it was built at, Srivastava added.

Integrated structures comprising an ATC tower-cum-fire station, two sophisticated CFT, one terminal building for passengers, high-intensity runway lights, parking for over 50 vehicles are some of the features of the airport, the chief secretary said.

The fortification wall of the project is 80-metre-high, one of the tallest in the world, Srivastava further said.

The Pakyong airport is located around 60 km from the Indo-China border. With this The Indian Air Force (IAF) would be able to land various types of aircraft on the airport's runway with the construction of another 75-metre stretch adjacent to the main runway in the coming days, the chief secretary informed. It has a 1.75 km runway with a width of 30 metre. It also has a 116-metre-long taxiway connecting it to an apron measuring 106 metre by 76 metre that can concurrently put up two ATR-72 aircraft.

The airport has 3,000 sq metre terminal building and has a capacity to handle 50 in-bound and as many out-bound passengers.

Pakyong Airport Director R Manjunatha said the land for the airport was carved from the mountain side using huge geo technical 'cut and fill' engineering works.