NEW DELHI, Jan 24 - Under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN-2, at least 19 destinations in the Northeast, including five cities in Assam, are proposed to be connected.
The destinations also include eight airports and helipads in Arunachal Pradesh, five in Manipur and one in Sikkim, announced Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju unveiling the UDAN-2 scheme.
In keeping with the government�s policy relating to ease of doing business and UDAN facilitating regional air connectivity by making it affordable for the masses, the Centre has decided to focus on priority areas, which include the northeastern region, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, among others.
According to Raju, the airports and helipads proposed to be connected in Assam are Jorhat, Lilabari, Rupsi, Tezpur and Nagaon.
Jorhat for instance is going to be connected to Kolkata, Pasighat and Tezu by Zoom Air, IndiGo and SpiceJet. Lilabari is going to be connected to Kolkata and Tezpur, and Rupsi to Guwahati by Trujet. Tezpur is going to be connected to Kolkata, Lilabari and Shillong by Zoom Air and AAA Aviation.
Similarly, Jorhat will have helicopter services to Dibrugarh and Tezpur, while Lilabari will have helicopter service to Dibrugarh and Itanagar. Nagaon will have air service of Skyone to Guwahati and Tezpur. Tezpur will also have helicopter service to Jorhat and Nagaon and will be served by Pawan Hans and Skyone.
SpiceJet will have direct flights from Dibrugarh to Bengaluru, besides Delhi and Mumbai.
Pawan Hans will have helicopter service in Manipur connecting Jiribam with Tamenglong, Moreh with Imphal and Perbung with Thanion. Tamenglong will also have helicopter connectivity with Imphal and Jiribam.
The minister said Jorhat, Lilabari, Nagaon and Tezpur in Assam will have helicopter service, while Arunachal Pradesh will have helicopter service connecting Daparizo, Itanagar, Pasighat, Walong, Tezu, Yinghiong, Tuting and Ziro.
