NEW DELHI: It’s going to be Flybig, the first airline company to launch commercial operations during the pandemic, to start flights operations in the region from next month. A 72-seater ATR aircraft is going to ferry passengers to and fro Delhi and Shillong.
Officials of the airline company are optimistic that commercial operations may start from mid-October in Northeast India under the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagarik (UDAN) project.
Only last week the centre had approved 78 new additional routes to be awarded under the fourth round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) — focusing on boosting connectivity in the Northeast, hilly states, and islands.
As per the new announcement, Shillong will be connected with almost all capitals of Northeastern states besides Kolkata and Silchar. The new flights would improve interstate and intrastate communication.
In fact, Flybig will be the first airline company to launch commercial operations in India while the aviation sector has been badly hit because of COVID-19 pandemic.
The airline is being promoted by Big Charter, and has received NOC from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and is currently in the process of getting the Air Operators Certificate.
Flybig’s fleet of aircraft comprises ATR-72-500s and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)’s Dornier Do-228 (upgraded) civil aircrafts.
The company is planning to launch flight services to many sectors in the Northeast, which are typically not airports but airstrips where the ATRs cannot operate.
The 17-seater Dornier Do-228 is an ideal aircraft to operate from the airstrips in the remote areas in Northeast India. Flybig has reportedly proposed sectors in some of the remote areas of Northeast India, especially in Arunachal Pradesh.
The airline has bid for a minimum Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of Rs 313 crore for 2020-21.
The VGF or central government subsidy, will be allowed for a period of three years from the date of allotment. It has proposed to have its base in Guwahati.