Northeast gets air transport boost to promote tourism

The Centre on Monday inaugurated a flight connecting six routes in the Northeast with a hope to further boost tourism in the region.

Civil aviation minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, General (retired) VK Singh and Rajeev Bansal, secretary of civil aviation virtually flagged off the flights, which would connect Kolkata with Guwahati, Guwahati – Aizawl, Aizawl – Shillong, Shillong – Aizawl, Aizawl – Guwahati, and Guwahati – Kolkata.

One flight of Alliance Air was flagged off which would connect four cities, Guwahati, Aizawl, Shillong and Kolkata.

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"With these new flights, travellers from Guwahati, Aizawl and Shillong will get multiple options for onward connectivity to the rest of the country. This also fulfils the long demand for flight connectivity on these routes," Scindia said after flagging off the flight.

Stressing that the new flight would help provide a boost to tourism and industry, Scindia said, "Eastern India tempts tourists with wonderful verdant valleys, hilly streams, lush green forests, vast tea gardens, snowcapped mountain peaks, mighty rivers, tribal culture, colourful fairs and festivals. These flights will open a seamless gateway and smooth aerial access option for nature lovers, travellers and tourists."

"Shillong is surrounded by hills from all sides. The city has many well-reputed educational institutions. Meghalaya is also famous for heavy rainfall, caves, tallest waterfalls, beautiful landscapes, and rich heritage and culture. Aizawl is known as the home of the highlanders and is the seat of a rich tribal cultural extravaganza and is famous for its handicrafts. The town is blessed with exotic natural beauty," he said.

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The minister said that the inauguration of the flight in the six routes underlined the due importance given to the North-East by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Under the UDAN scheme, we have connected cities that had no mention on the aviation map of the country. We have already started 60 airports, and 387 routes, out of which 100 routes are awarded in North East alone and 50 are already operational. Moreover, In 2014, only six airports were operational in the Northeast, now we have grown to 15 airports in a span of seven years," Scindia said.

The minister said 16 airports would be covered under the KRISHI UDAN Yojna in order to enhance the export opportunities of the Northeast through cargo movement.

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