NEW DELHI, Feb 23 – The Minister DoNER is contemplating a study on roadmap for air connectivity in the Northeastern region in consultation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The study would include viability of air connectivity within the Northeastern region (NER) and linking airports within the region to other metros, said Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha un-starred question by Kumar Deepak Das.
Airport Authority of India (AAI) is taking up the upgradation and modernisation of infrastructure facilities at the airports in NER in a phased manner, said Patel.
The Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal and Dimapur airports are included in the list of 35 non-metro airports to be developed in the first phase, he said.
On making Guwahati airport an air-hub, the Minister said that AAI is making additional apron for parking of 11 aircraft, which could be used by airlines for night parking.
The Minister, however, claimed that all scheduled operators were complying with Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDGs). Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is monitoring the compliance on monthly basis, the Civil Aviation Minister said.
As reported in this newspaper, an upset Ministry of DoNER had dashed off a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) over poor air connectivity in the NER and the blatant violation of the RDGs by the scheduled operators. The complaint led the PMO to convene a high-level meeting to review the situation early last month.
The meeting directed DGCA and AAI to focus on improving the air connectivity by allowing non-scheduled operators to service the smaller airports.
A decision was also taken to take out Bagdogra from the list of destinations in North East, as it was in North Bengal. The schedule operators were listing Bagdogra in the list of destinations in North East to fulfil the mandatory quota of flying to Category II routes.
DoNER planning study on roadmap for air connectivity in NE
