Shillong, Mar 15: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said the process of land acquisition is on for expansion of the Baljek Airport.

“The process of land acquisition is on as we speak to expand the runway of the Baljek Airport,” Sangma said while replying in the Assembly.

“We do not  have the challenge like we have here in Shillong where there are huge mountain which block the instrument landing system operation which leads to the inability of larger flights landing,” he said.

Sangma informed that the government is working to creating 2.2 km plus runway at the Baljek Airport.

“Therefore, we are hopeful that things will move much faster,” he said.

It may be mentioned that the construction of Baljek Airport was taken up in July 1997 by the AAI. The airport was completed in February 2008 at a total cost of Rs 12.54 crore and was handed over to the state government in October 2008.