New Delhi: In its bid to provide better connectivity in Meghalaya and other parts of the North east, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has proposed to invite bids to bring the underserved Shillong airport at Umroi and three unserved airstrips — Dwara, Shella and Tura — under the UDAN scheme.
The ministry has invited bids for six underserved airports in the North East, including Umroi, and 21 other unserved airports & airstrips under UDAN. The ministry has also invited bid for a water aerodrome at Umrangso in Assam.
The underserved airports/airstrips up for bidding include Pasighat, Tezu, Jorhat, Rupsi and Tezpur, besides Shillong airport.
Apart from the three unserved airports/airstrips in Meghalaya, those up for bidding in other states include Alinya, Along, Daparizo, Mechuka, Tuting, Vijaynagar, Walong, Yinghiong and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh; Chabua, Darrang, Dinjan, Ledo, Misa Mari, Nazira, Sadiya, Sorbhog and Sukerating (Dum Duma) in Assam and Kailashahar, Kamalpur and Khowai in Tripura.
Efforts are constantly being undertaken to provide aerial connectivity to the region, a statement from the ministry said, adding that the move will boost tourism and also transform the economic situation of the region.
Under the UDAN 4.0 scheme, the Ministry is also providing additional Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of around 25 per cent to airlines. It aims to operationalise 1,000 routes and more than 100 airports in the next five years.
This would be achieved by focusing on operationalising routes in priority areas. AAI would focus on developing the no-frills airport in the future and routes connecting such airports would be prioritised for the award of VGF. The market would be incentivised to develop short-haul routes only, providing connectivity to nearby airports.
