Air connectivity
in the North Eastern region is set to improve substantially with
the proposed indication of four ATR-42-320 aircraft into the fleet
of Alliance Air. The 50 seater Turbo Prop aircraft are being taken
on lease by Alliance Air for a period of five years. While the
first of the four aircraft is due to reach today, the second one
will reach in the next few days and the remaining two will reach
within a month. The inaugural flight with the ATR-42 will be launched
on the 25th December 2002 on Kolkata-Guwahati-Dimapur-Agartala-Kolkata
sector. This information was given by the Civil Aviation Minister
Shri Syed Shahnawaz Hussain while addressing the Parliamentary
Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry here today. He
said, as these are smaller aircraft, they will be able to cover
more locations in the region and are comparatively more economical
for short haul operations.
The Minister said,
seat availability will go up by about 1500 seats and will enable
the airlines to operate on new routes like Kolkata-Shillong, Guwahati-Aizwal,
Guwahati-Dimapur and Silchar-Agartala besides increasing frequency
on the existing sectors. The Minister said, several improvements
have been carried out in the airport infrastructure in the North
Eastern region. Major extensions/modifications have been done
at Guwahati, Tezpur, Silchar, Lilabari, Imphal, Dimapur, Agartala
and Aizwal airports.
Shri Hussain said,
Air India and Indian Airlines have initiated steps to have greater
synergies through hub and spoke agreements and through seamless
transfers at some airports. He said, Indian Airlines has now commenced
23 flights per week on domestic routes as hub and spoke arrangements
with Air India. Seamless transfer of passengers between Air India
and Indian Airlines have also commenced at Delhi and Mumbai airports
from 1st December, which will be a major convenience
to passengers. In order to augment capacity and pending purchase
of new aircraft, the Board of Indian Airlines have approved dry-lease
of 5 additional A-320 aircraft for a period of three years, extendable
by two years. The aircraft will be delivered between February
and May 2003, the Minister said.
Shri Hussain said,
arrangements have been made by Air India, Indian Airlines and
Saudi Arabian Airlines, for carrying a total of 72000 Haj pilgrims
to and fro India-Jeddah. Haj pilgrims will be carried from Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata, Gaya, Lucknow, Srinagar, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Hyderabad,
Bangalore and Kozhikode. From January 2002, Indian Airlines will
operate 15 hub and spoke haj services between Gaya and Kolkata
on behalf of Air India.
Participating in
the discussion, the members suggested that night landing facility
may be provided at all the airports in the North-Eastern region.
At present only two airports, namely, Guwahati and Agartala, have
this facility. They urged the Government to ensure that private
airlines take up services in the region. Some members were of
the opinion that small jet planes may be more suitable for the
region. While expressing concern over the average age of the fleet,
members also suggested that the airlines should go for purchase
of new aircraft instead of going for leased aircraft.
Members of Parliament
who attended today’s meeting are Shri E. Ahmed, Shri Ram Pal Singh,
Shri Ashok Argel, Shri S. S. Palanimanickam, Shri Chhattrapal
Singh, Shri Tarit Beran Topdar, Shri Ram Nagina Mishra, Shri Ramesh
Chennithala, Smt. Renu Kumari, Shri Dilip Kumar M. Gandhi, Smt.
Kanti Singh, and Shri A.P. Jithender Reddy from the Lok Sabha
and Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Shri Prem Chand Gupta, Shri Santosh
Bagrodia, Shri Faqir Chand Mullana, Shri Dinesh Trivedi and Shri
Praful Patel from the Rajya Sabha.
