In what will be regarded as a red-letter day in the history of Indian aviation, the first ever completely indigenously built commercial aircraft was pressed into service today.
As part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s scheme to promote air connectivity in the North Eastern states, 2 Dornier aircraft made in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will fly from Dibrugarh in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. The connectivity will expand to Tezu and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh in the next 15 to 20 days. The next phase involves linking Vijaynagar, Mechuka, Along and other places. Currently, these places in eastern Arunachal Pradesh need 1-5 days of travel to reach the nearest airports of Dibrugarh and Lilabari in Assam. With the air operations, the travel time will reduce to just a few hours.
The Centre-run Alliance Air had signed an agreement with the government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in February 2022 to lease two 17-seater Dornier 228 aircraft. The aircrafts have an AC cabin and are capable of day and night operations. The Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) maintained by Indian Air Force will be used for landing. In 1981, HAL acquired the production license for the aircraft from the manufacturers and assembled 125 of them at its Kanpur facility. Till date, Dornier 228 planes are used by the armed forces only.
The launch of the air service was in addition to the inauguration of the first FTO (Flying Training Organization) for the North-Eastern region at Lilabari, Assam which is part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s scheme to promote air connectivity in the North-Eastern states. "The development of the North Eastern Region (NER) is not only of strategic importance but is also part of India's growth story. Connectivity in NER is very essential and Under "Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)", the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has identified NER as a priority area. This has helped in enhancing inter and intra connectivity for the NER," the government said. Given the focus on NER, new airports are being developed and old airports are being upgraded.
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Jitesh Surjiani
Jitesh Surjiani is passionate about progressive change for India and its citizens. He writes about issues that are roadblocks in improving quality of life and interpersonal interactions as well as areas of public governance that fall short in intent and action.
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