By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Feb 20: Meghalaya’s aviation sector is expected to add wings with plans to provide flights between Shillong and six locations in the North East under UDAN 4.0.
Shillong airport is currently connected to Kolkata by a daily flight and to New Delhi by a weekly flight.
An Airports Authority of India official said they were optimistic about the new flights despite the UDAN scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation not having taken off as hoped for.
“These flights could prove to be a world of good for Meghalaya,” the official said, adding that Alliance Air and Flybig have been selected to operate on these proposed routes.
Flybig executives said they plan to start direct Shillong-Aizawl, Shillong-Imphal and Shillong-Guwahati flights from March but there’s no clarity on how things will work out.
While Flybig is operating the Shillong-Delhi direct flight, Indigo is operating the Shillong-Kolkata flight.
The number of passengers is increasing in both the flights.
More airlines are likely to operate to and from Shillong, as additional parking bays and aprons are being constructed at the airport.
Officials of Alliance Air, which operated the Shillong-Kolkata flight a few years ago, could not be contacted.
In 2018, Air Deccan was selected to operate from Shillong but the company never returned after a trial run.
