Alliance Air runs into rough weather in NE

Agartala, May 26: Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Indian Airlines, meant for the North Eastern states, has run into rough weather with the decision of introducing a regional airline connecting all important airports of the region.

According to sources, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has allowed the extension of Alliance Air services, currently operating the regional air service, for a couple of months till the new plans are executed.

The decision to establish a new air service for the region was taken in the 54th sectoral meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in Aizawl last week.

The NEC decided to supplement 226 flights per week by having a network of 592 internal flights with separate hubs at Guwahati and Agartala.

The NEC had been paying Rs 35 crores annually to Alliance Air for operating the regional air service but due to shortage of pilots and technical support, the service was not satisfactory.

With the persistent refusal of the airline to shift its hub from Kolkata to Guwahati and Agartala, the ATR authorities had come under fire from the DoNER, sources said adding that ''unwillingness'' of pilots to stay at Guwahati compelled it to operate only one ATR aircraft from the city.

Meanwhile, the Centre also agreed to improve both inter and intra-region air services, setting up of Greenfield airports at Kohima, Itanagar and Gangtok and upgradation of airports at Pasighat and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, Baljek in West Garo Hills, Meghalaya, Kamalpur and Kailashahar in Tripura.

With the feasibility report of a Delhi-based agency, Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism (FAST), engaged to conduct a study to develop air connectivity in the North-east, the Ministry had last year given green signal to float a dedicated airline.

A special committee, headed by Manipur Governor Dr S S Sidhu, had studied the FAST report last December and held meeting with the representatives from the DoNER and Ministry of Civil Aviation and Alliance Air.

The committee and aviation officials asked Alliance Air to submit their best offer but failed to improve the service even after repeated requests, which finally forced the DoNER to consider the new proposal, state transport department officials said.

UNI