From Our Special Correspondent
Pala seeks Govt intervention
New Delhi: Former Union Minister and MP from Shillong Vincent H Pala has urged the Centre to take steps for revival of Alliance Air’s Shillong-Kolkata flight.
Pala on Saturday met Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju and sought his personal intervention in this regard.
The Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, had stopped its service from Shillong “following expiry of agreement on May 31” this year.
The airlines sources earlier said it was forced to stop the service “due to irregular payment of viability gap funding by the North Eastern Council (NEC)”.
Pala told Raju that he should make a personal intervention and take necessary action to revive the flight at the earliest.
The MP from Shillong also admitted that the flight was cancelled due to non-receipt of subsidy from NEC for more than a year.
The NEC had already sent a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation to extend the agreement by another three months. In June
last year, the Union civil aviation ministry had directed Air India to resume the flight to Shillong after it was suspended earlier.
The ATR aircraft from Umroi airport used to operate five days a week, except Tuesday and Friday. The NEC finances Alliance Air’s operations in the crucial region each year through viability gap funding (VGF) under a MoU between the two sides.
Pala told the Union Minister that the Hill State did not have operational railways and road network was also very poor. “Air service can facilitate requirements of common people and even armed forces in the region in case of emergency situation,” he added.