Dibrugarh, Jan. 9: The tussle between the Airports Authority of India and the army over a plot of land to be utilised as an extension of the runway of Dibrugarh Airport is over and work on the boundary wall for the runway is under way.

"The role of A.K. Sharma, the regional executive director of the Airports Authority of India, is understood to be instrumental in overcoming this hurdle, which had stalled the project for several months since July last year, said the director of Dibrugarh Airport, Nawnit Kumar Gupta.

The extension of the runway to 7,500 feet and construction of an isolation bay are parts of the same project, which is being executed by the civil engineering firm, Vishal Construction Company.

The firm is required to complete the work by June 30 next year, the airport's director said.

Work on another project, comprising construction of a hangar capable of accommodating an Airbus 320-size aircraft and also a state-of-the-art air traffic control complex having an ATC tower that is twice the height of the existing tower at the airport, will commence soon.

The airport, while switching over to modern machinery and equipment, recently acquired two world-class fire tenders from Austria at a cost of Rs 6 crore each.

The director said the number of passengers to and from the airport has been showing an upward trend and that airlines operating flights to Dibrugarh are continually getting a fair number of flyers from the surrounding industrial areas as well as domestic and foreign tourists. Around 1,000 passengers reportedly use the airport daily and it has a potential for at least another 500 passengers. As and when the Bogibeel bridge is completed the demand might increase to even 2,000 to 2,500 passengers per day.