Lapses ground International flights from taking off/landing
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 29 2013:
Whereas maximum efforts are being put in to introduce Imphal-Mandalay flight service ahead of the Manipur Sangai Festival, many lapses have been detected on the part of the State Government.
Although India and Myanmar signed an agreement for launching air connectivity between the two countries during Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Myanmar last year, and the DGCA has given its consent for Myanmar based private airline Golden Myanmar to operate to and from Tulihal Airport, one cannot say that Tulihal Airport is ready for international flights, informed an official source.
As of now, Tulihal Airport does not have space required for an international airport.
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Out of the total land acquired for expansion of the airport, the airport authority is unable to take over two sacred sites thereby posing serious problems.
Even as the Chief Minister entrusted local MLA RK Anand to negotiate for the land acquisition process, the same process cannot be termed complete or fruitful so far.
Though the State Government has been planning to entrust the duty of immigration check to Manipur Police as and when international flights start landing at Tulihal Airport, no police officer has been trained for the new duty.
The State Government is yet to take a decision whether all foreign tourists coming for the Manipur Sangai Festival would be given visas on arrival or whether such visas would be given to only Myanmarese nationals provided Imphal-Mandalay bus service is introduced ahead of or during the Sangai festival.
In the absence of a proper tourism policy for the State, foreign tourists are likely to face several inconveniences while trying to visit the State, informed the official source further.