Gargee Nandy, NET Correspondent, Meghalaya
On Tuesday August 3, the first direct flight operations between Shillong and Imphal has been flagged off, under the Regional Connectivity Scheme-Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN), an initiative commenced by the Government of India (GOI).
Shillong is the second city to be connected with Imphal under the RCS-UDAN scheme.
The operationalization of this route, fulfills the objective of establishing strong aerial connectivity among priority areas of Northeast India. However, aerial connectivity between the capital cities of Manipur & Meghalaya has been a long-awaited demand of the people of the region.
The first direct flight operations between Imphal & Shillong was flagged off under #UDAN on 3rd August. The operationalization of this route will establish strong aerial connectivity in priority areas of NorthEast India.#SabUdenSabJuden pic.twitter.com/EouYkxbGaH
— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) August 3, 2021
With operations starting on this route, a 24 hrs journey will now be reduced to 60 mins from Imphal to Shillong & 75 mins from Shillong to Imphal.
Meanwhile, the completion of the entire journey took more than a day to reach Shillong from Imphal or vice-versa, the press release further added.
Attended by authorities from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Airport Authority of India (AAI), the airline M/s Indigo was awarded the Imphal-Shillong route during the UDAN 4 bidding process.
The airlines include Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under the UDAN scheme to maintain affordable fares & accessible for the common people. The airline will be operating four flights in a week and will deploy its 78-seater ATR 72 aircraft.
Currently, 66 UDAN routes are operational by M/S Indigo airlines. Till date, 361 routes and 59 airports (including 5 heliports and 2 water aerodromes) have been operationalized under the UDAN scheme.
UDAN is a regional connectivity scheme spearheaded by the Government of India (GoI). This initiative aims to develop smaller regional airports to allow common citizens easier access to aviation services.
“Through UDAN scheme direct air service will be initiated between Shillong and Imphal, cutting short the travel time significantly and connecting Meghalaya and Manipur closer.
Thank Modi ji, Mr Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, MoCA_Gol for the initiative.” – tweeted by the Meghalaya CM, Conrad Sangma.
Through #UDAN scheme direct air service will be initiated between Shillong and Imphal, cutting short the travel time significantly & connecting Meghalaya & Manipur closer.
Thank @narendramodi @JM_Scindia @MoCA_GoI for the initiative. https://t.co/BRNnwfD61v— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) August 4, 2021
“With this the total number of airline routes under the UDAN scheme has gone up to 361. Our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this is a great gift for the citizens of both the states under the visionary leadership of MoCA_Gol.” – tweeted by the Union Minister for Civil Aviation Mr Jyotiraditya M. Scindia.
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इसी के साथ UDAN योजना के अंतर्गत विमान सेवा के मार्गों की कुल गणना 361 हो गयी है। हमारे यशस्वी प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के दूरदर्शी नेतृत्व में दोनों राज्यों के नागरिकों के लिए ये एक बड़ी सौगात है। @MoCA_GoI
— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) August 4, 2021
