12 more NE airports to be operationalised by this year

Agartala, Jul 4: The North Eastern Council (NEC) has announced to make 12 more new airports operational by end of 2008.

Besides, modernising of 11 airports include Agartala, Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Jorhat, Silchar, Dimapur, Imphal, Aizawl, and the Bagdogra.

Official sources here today said that three airlines- Alliance Air, Universal Empire and Ace Airlines, had submitted offers to set up the new airline for regional air services. The NEC was trying to materialise the bid before October to facilitate viable communication network among the NE states.

The winning bidder would be subsidised by the NEC at the same rate, which was currently paying Rs 35 crore.

Twenty-five new airports are expected to come up over the period of the 11th Five-Year-Plan.

The Ministry of Development for the North-Eastern Region (DoNER) has proposed to increase the total number to 400 flights connecting the region every month by the end of 2009.

UNI