SHILLONG: The Air Deccan which was selected under the regional connectivity scheme, also known as UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), to operate from Shillong, has remained a non-starter due unknown reasons.
The Air Deccan had conducted a trial run with a lot of buzz from the Umroi airport on April 25 this year when an 18-seater aircraft landed on the tarmac at Shillong Airport marking the start of low-cost carrier Air Deccan’s operations to and from the facility at Umroi but the services have been stopped since May 10 due to unknown reasons.
Under the Udan scheme, Air Deccan was selected to operate from Shillong and the air fares are capped at Rs 2,500 per person for an hour’s flight to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities in which the government will provide subsidy for flying with such low fares.
An official from the Air Deccan told The Shillong Times that the services from Shillong were in operation from May 1 to May 10. However, the reason for halt of operation from Shillong is not known .
The Air Deccan official said that the services may resume from Shillong after September 10 but they are not sure about it.
When the matter was brought to the knowledge of the Transport Minister, Sniawbhalang Dhar on Thursday, he said that the matter had not been discussed in the department.
“ I will have to find out and I will have to see the agreement as to why they have stopped the services,” Dhar said.
An official from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) also said that the Umroi airport have provided all the facilities including check in counters, refueling systems for the Air Deccan to function from here.
The he airline was scheduled to operate on the Kolkata-Agartala-Shillong-Dimapur and the Dimapur-Shillong-Agartala-Kolkata sector six days a week.
It may be mentioned that the Centre had asked Air Deccan to start operations from the region by making Shillong as a hub