More NE airports will be in operation this fiscal

Aizawl, Nov 26: The Ministry of Aviation has taken initiative to increase air connectivity in northeast and bring more airports in operation before next fiscal.

Only 11 airports out of 22 in the region are operational currently.

Official sources said here today that apart from this North Eastern Council (NEC) is also planning to introduce a regional airline through public-private partnership among the states.

In a recent communique here, the Civil Aviation Ministry had assured the NE states that steps had been taken to improve the service of Indian Airlines and Alliance Airlines in the region to provide a sustainable communication network.

''Currently 109 flights are operating from different destinations of the region every week while modernisation project has been taken at Aizawl, Agartala, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Silchar, Shillong and Bagdogra,'' officials stated quoting the ministry.

A Committee under the chairmanship of Governor of Manipur has recently recommended provision of minimum subsidy to airlines through a reverse bidding process to operate the required services in the region, official sources added.

Meanwhile, NEC has already got the feasibility study report of Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism (FAST) for improving air connectivity and starting a regional airline for the North Eastern region.

UNI