By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Air connectivity in the whole of the Northeastern region, with the exception of Guwahati, has been a huge disappointment so far despite repeated attempts by the North Eastern Council (NEC) to rope in big players with the lure of heavy subsidies, NEC Secretary UK Sangma said on Monday.
“The Council had given huge subsidies to the aviation company – Alliance Air – for running the air services in the region. Despite all the financial support we are extremely unhappy to see that the firm has not delivered as per the expectation,” the NEC Secretary said, while adding that the Council had paid around Rs 49 crore to Alliance Air to provide uninterrupted air services in the region.
“The firm has managed to pocket Rs 49 crore despite failing in its commitment,” Sangma alleged.
Citing an example of how Alliance Air had failed to keep its promises of providing the best air services, Sangma said they had received a complaint from the Nagaland Government that the morning flights from Guwahati to Dimapur was always getting cancelled.
“We sought a clarification from the firm to which they claimed that it was due to operational reasons.
Disappointed with their reply, we have discontinued our agreement with the firm in December last year,” Sangma added.
The NEC Secretary also stated that big private players were unwilling to extend their services in the region.
“The NEC had, in the past, invited tenders for running a dedicated air service in the NE region on at least three occasions. But each time, we received responses only from small players in the aviation sector,” Sangma said.
The NEC official informed that recently a proposal from the Intra-Northeast flights had caught the attention of the Council.
“However, during discussion between the company and NEC officials, they requested the Council to provide advance payment to enable them to purchase some aircraft,” Sangma said, adding, “We declined to accept this request by the firm.”