By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The cancellation of the only Air India Kolkata-Shillong-Kolkata flight has become a common phenomenon, creating hardships for passengers who are booked to fly from the Shillong Airport at Umroi.
According to sources from the Shillong Airport, between August 1 till December 14 the only 48 seater Air India flight which lands at the airport has been cancelled for as many as thirty times.
Passengers who prefer to fly directly to Shillong from Kolkata say that the cancellation of flight is a common trend and Air India cancels the flight arbitrarily.
The unreliable nature of the Air India flight has made passengers question if the Umroi airport will really take off.
Many time passengers bound for Kolkata from Umroi are stranded when the only flight gets cancelled without prior warning.
Continuing with its cancellation spree, the sole flight was cancelled even on Wednesday last leaving many passengers cursing the airlines for leaving them high and dry.
The frequent cancellation of the flight may become a hindrance to the State Government’s plan of making the Shillong airport an important domestic airport.
According to sources from the airport, the sole flight also does not adhere to the landing and take off timings as the flight gets delayed on many occasions.
These days many people have abandoned their plans of flying from Umroi as they have learnt bitter lessons in the past. They prefer to fly from Guwahati where flights take off every 15 minutes to different parts of the country. It may be mentioned that the 48-seater flight only operates between Shillong and Kolkata via Jorhat and on many occasions the flight is delayed or cancelled at the last moment.
Going by the problems surrounding the Shillong airport, Meghalaya seems destined to remain in the air shadow area of the aviation map of the country.