Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia flagged off six new flights for the country’s North-East states on Monday which include Kolkata – Guwahati, Guwahati – Aizawl, Aizawl – Shillong, Shillong – Aizawl, Aizawl – Guwahati, and Guwahati – Kolkata.

Speaking at the virtual inauguration ceremony, the minister said, the new flights have expanded the aerial connectivity of the North-East by connecting multiple states hitherto not connected via flights and help to promote tourism in the region. Travellers from Guwahati, Aizawl and Shillong will also get multiple options for onward connectivity to the rest of the country. These flights will open a seamless gateway and smooth aerial access option for nature lovers, travellers, tourists etc, he added.

The minister also said,  “Mizoram is the gateway to North-East India. The city has an immense amount of importance for its tourism & economic sector. We are committed to giving wings to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of making it possible that every state’s uniqueness must be experienced by all citizens of the country. I assure you, that MoS General V K Singh (Retd.) and I will personally visit Mizoram very soon.”

The minister also said, “I am delighted to mention that most of Alliance Air’s ATR aircraft are deployed on the North-Eastern routes. Today, we are further establishing seamless connectivity across entire North-East India by connecting 4 cities with one flight.  This underlines the due importance given to the North-East by the Ministry of Civil Aviation under the leadership of our Prime Minister.

He said that under the government’s UDAN scheme, cities that had no mention on the aviation map of the country have now got air connectivity.  As many as 60 airports, and 387 routes have started functioning out of which 100 routes are awarded in North East alone, and 50 are already operational. 

In 2014, only 6 airports were operational in North East, which have now grown to 15 airports in a short span of 7 years. Therefore, this further highlights the due importance of the North-Eastern states for this government, he added.

“In addition to this, under the KRISHI UDAN Yojna, we have identified 16 airports to enhance the export opportunities of the region establishing dual benefits of enhancement of cargo movements and exports,” the minister explained.