Development of airports: their economic and strategic role in Assam, India

The first air service in Assam as well as in entire Northeast India was started with the establishment of the Rowriah Airport in Jorhat. However, most of the airports in the state developed during the World War II. These airports connect the north eastern part with the rest of India and also with the various places of the world. Though Assam has several airports, except the international airport (LGBI) of Guwahati, all are presently facing several problems due to many reasons, which are discussed in this paper. The necessity for development of the airports is not only realized from passenger traffic development point of view but also extremely important from rescue and rehabilitation during the time of disasters and also strategic point of view as the region is surrounded by number of foreign countries. In spite of facing many problems in data collection for too many restrictions, revenue earning, cargo and mail handling data along with the primary data in regard to the historical development of the airports presented here to understand the issues related to the air service in the state.