By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 15: In a setback for citizens of Meghalaya who have been aspiring for dedicated and regular air connectivity from Shillong to the national capital, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Wednesday cancelled all slots fixed for the low-cost carrier FlyBig for its lack of professionalism.
The cancellation of slots of FlyBig comes just days after authorities of the Shillong Airport wrote a strongly worded letter to AAI urging the statutory body to impose penalty on the company for its casual approach towards civil aviation, besides cancelling all the slots made available to the company for the whole summer schedule.
AAI on Wednesday issued a new summer schedule for Shillong airport without adding FlyBig on the list. As per the schedule, Shillong will remain connected to cities like Guwahati, Agartala, Kolkata, Lengpui, Imphal, Dimapur, Silchar and Dibrugarh.
As its stands today, IndiGo is the only company to operate flights on the Delhi-Shillong-Delhi circuit via Kolkata or Agartala.
An AAI source told The Shillong Times that FlyBig has been unable to display operational competency on the Shillong-Delhi route ever since services started in December 2020. Till date the company should have operated 156 flights on the route but they operated only 24.
An aviation expert said the agreement signed by the Meghalaya government with FlyBig was doomed right from the start since they did not own any Bombardier Q400 aircraft. The company had launched its operation on the Shillong-Delhi route by procuring an aircraft from SpiceJet on wet lease.
The aviation expert also mentioned that the state government should terminate the agreement with FlyBig without ado and appoint another operator with logistical capability to operate on this route for the benefit of the citizens.
It may be recalled that Transport Minister Dasakhiatbha Lamare had candidly admitted in the Assembly that the state government’s move to sign a deal with FlyBig to operate flights on the Shillong- Delhi route was a mistake and the department has learnt a hard lesson after expending over Rs 2 crore on the same.
Lamare had said FlyBig had procured an aircraft from SpiceJet on lease. The flight could not be operated after some time.
