Highlights:
• Alliance Air fly the first Dornier 228 passenger aircraft built in India.
• Flagged off by Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
• The aircrafts will be used to give air connectivity to remote places of eastern Arunachal Pradesh
The first-ever “Made in India” civil Dornier aircraft made its first flight on 12th April, providing aviation connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh’s isolated towns. This will significantly strengthen air connectivity of the North Eastern Region with the rest of the country, marking a watershed moment in Indian aviation history.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has approved a scheme titled “Providing air connectivity and Aviation infrastructure in the North Eastern Region (NER)” to promote air connectivity in the North Eastern Region’s states and, if necessary, to create air connectivity infrastructure.
Two significant events took place yesterday as a part of this scheme:
• First flight of a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) – Made in India- Dornier Do-228 took off from Dibrugarh, Assam to Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh by Alliance Air making it India’s only commercial airline to fly an Indian-made aircraft for civil operations.
• Secondly, the first FTO (Flying Training Organization) for the North Eastern Region was inaugurated in Lilabari, Assam.
Alliance Air will travel from Dibrugarh to Pasighat initially. It will subsequently travel to Tezu and finally Ziro, both in Arunachal Pradesh, in the next 15 to 20 days. All of this will occur during the initial phase.
It would connect Vijaynagar, Mechuka, Along, and other towns in the second phase, a top official from the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
In this regard, new airports are getting developed and old airports are getting upgraded. Considering the hilly terrain, helicopter operations under UDAN scheme have been given focus for connectivity.
