Govt Starts Work On Civilian Airport At Thoise Airbase Near LAC With China

Satellite view of Thoise Airbase available in the Public Domain

This will become the second civilian airport in Ladakh and will be a statement by India that it is bringing air connectivity for civilians even to the remotest corners of the country near the borders, especially LAC

The Narendra Modi government has started work on building a new civilian terminal building at the Thoise airbase in the Nubra region in Ladakh, very close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. India has been in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in this sector with Chinese troops for over three years now.

Thoise is a military airbase with a runway used exclusively by armed forces but has seen a few civilian flights from Leh under the UDAN scheme. The government, however, is planning more passenger flights to Thoise soon, and on Saturday, invited bids to appoint a consultant for the coming up of a new integrated passenger terminal at Thoise

This will become the second civilian airport in Ladakh and will be a statement by India that it is bringing air connectivity for civilians even to the remotest corners of the country near the borders, especially LAC. The cost of the full project is estimated at ₹130 crore.

The bid document accessed says a centrally air-conditioned Domestic Passenger Terminal Building with an area of 5,300 Sqm is expected to come up at Thoise.

“The building is to be provided with aesthetically appealing and soothing interior decoration matching the modern structure and depicting local architecture, culture, art and heritage. A detailed passenger survey will also be carried out to assess the airport’s catchment area and passenger Profile in terms of demographics, purpose of travel, spending behaviour, preferences, profession and income group, the bid document has mentioned.

The government had sanctioned 28 kanals of land on which the terminals and other allied infrastructure for civilian flights will be coming up. There has been a long-pending demand of the locals for a civilian airport at Thoise to boost the local economy. The new terminal building will see coming up of departure and arrival areas, security hold areas and other facilities in a civil enclave here. Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal has been pushing for a civilian airport at Thoise and meeting airline chiefs to request them to start flights to Thoise too.