Civil Aviation Ministry agrees to DONER Ministry proposal for improving air connectivity in Northeast.

New Delhi: Vaishakha 30, 1933
May 20, 2011

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has agreed to the request of Minister of Ministry of Development of North East Region (DoNER), Shri Bijoy Krishna Handique to introduce more flights to the Lilabari and Tezpur Airports in Assam, which is within the vicinity of Itanagar, the state capital of Arunachal Pradesh. The decision comes in the wake of the suspension of helicopter services in the state of Arunachal Pradesh following the spate of recent accidents in which the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Shri Dorjee Khandu was also killed.

At a meeting held today here regarding new policy alternatives for Civil Aviation in the North Eastern Region, Shri Handique and Shri Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Civil Aviation, discussed at length a range of issues relating to Improving Connectivity in the Region, Air Safety Regulations & Facilities in the NER, Development of New Regional Hubs, among others.

Lilabari will now have 5 day flight connectivity with routing from Kolkata – Guwahati – Lilabari- Guwahati – Kolkata and Tezpur will have 5 day connectivity connecting Guwahati and Jorhat including the existing weekly once flight to Silchar and Kolkata. Shri. Handique had written to the Minister of Civil Aviation for introduction of more flights to Lilabari on 5th May while camping at Itanagar. Shri. Handique welcomed the decision and said that “This 5 day a week frequency connecting Guwahati and Kolkata to Lilabari and Tezpur will give some connectivity to the people of Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern and western parts of the state for the time being.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has in principle agreed for Developing Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal and Dibrugarh Airports as Regional Hubs. To begin with, the related works for developing Regional Hub at Guwahati will start from June, 2011. Shri. Handique mentioned that “The Regional Hub for Civil Aviation at Guwahati has been a three decade old demand of the people of the Region and I thank Mr.Vayalar Ravi for addressing this issue. I am hopeful that Guwahati will start functioning as a Regional Hub very soon.” Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri. Vayalar Ravi will lay the Foundation Stone in the presence of Minister of DoNER, Shri. Bijoy Krishna Handique and Chief Minister of Assam, Shri. Tarun Gogoi. Requisite funds will be provided by Ministry of DoNER.

This will help in night parking of aircrafts at Guwahati and early morning operations to the interiors of the Region. Ministry of DoNER and Ministry of Civil Aviation will establish a Composite Training School for Ground Level Staff for Navigation and Aircraft Maintenance at Lilabari, Assam. Land has already been acquired by Government of Assam and North Eastern Council will fund the Project.

 

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