UDAN scheme: Aviation in North East gets a boost, 2 int’l flights to be added

After launching three flights that will link five cities in the North East, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced on Sunday that two more international routes under the regional air connectivity project will be operational soon.

According to a press release, Scindia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen (Retd) V K Singh officially started three flights that connect five cities in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Mizoram.   

Flight services of Alliance Air connecting the five states were virtually flagged off on Sunday by the minister.

While services on the Shillong-Lilabari-Shillong line will begin on 31 October, planes connecting Imphal-Aizawl-Imphal and Lilabari-Ziro-Lilabari began operating on Sunday.

Under the UDAN regional air connectivity programme, these flights have been launched.

Two new routes will be operationalized under the international UDAN programme: Agartala-Chittagong-Agartala and Imphal-Mandalay-Imphal. According to Scindia, this will raise the degree of international air connectivity in the North Eastern states.

Chittagong is in Bangladesh and Mandalay in Myanmar.    

He added that seven airports have been built in the region in the past eight years and that the Union government has placed a special priority on the North Eastern region’s aviation connectivity.

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Manipur will all benefit from improved air connectivity as a result of the new services, according to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who spoke at the virtual event.

“I consider the launch of these air services not just an extension of airline routes but more importantly a futuristic gesture, which will go a long way in promoting people-to-people contact, tourism and trade,” he said.

The Assam government has already given up 84 acres of land for the construction of a fundamental strip and isolation bay at Lilabari, the gateway to a number of popular tourist attractions, he continued.

According to Sarma, flight services in the Northeast have grown by 36% during the past five years, from August 2017 to August 2022, outpacing growth rates in the East, West, North, and South zones.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed gratitude to the Centre for giving priority to the development of the Northeast, particularly connectivity in the region.

(With inputs from PTI)

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