Loilempi, 25 February

A small airport is being reportedly built in Loilenpi Town in Matupi District, Chin State and the airport project is completed by 44 percent while the land reclamation task has been about 67 percent finished, according to a source from the local government.

“We embarked on the construction of the airport in May 2019 and are trying our best to finalize the project ahead of schedule. Now construction of retaining walls began and we took time to remove big stones while digging up the ground. We would build a runway within two months if sufficient rock is available,” said Mr. Terry, an engineer for the airport construction project.

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) International, an international non-governmental organization is building the Loilempi Airport with some US$ 2.2 million in cooperation with an NGO named Health and Hope (Myanmar), according to a source from the local government. Construction of the small airport project was approved in July 2017. A feasibility study for the small airport commenced in January 2018 and construction work began in May 2019. The runway of the airport will be 2600 ft. in length and 100 ft. in width, and it is slated to be open to the public in May this year.

Once completed, the MAF will conduct airport operations with a maximum of three small aircrafts. Each plane can hold a maximum of 10 passengers with the approval of the Department of Civil Aviation.—Yar Kam (IPRD)

Translated by Kyaw Htike Soe