First direct flight operations between Imphal and Shillong flagged off

SHILONG: The first direct flight operations between Imphal (Manipur) and Shillong (Meghalaya) launched yesterday under the RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme — Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) of the Government of India.

The launch of this route achieves the Indian government's goal of establishing strong aerial connection in NorthEast India's priority areas.

The flying operations was attended by authorities from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

Under the UDAN programme, Shillong is the second city to be connected to Imphal. During the UDAN 4 bidding process, the airline M/s Indigo was awarded the Imphal-Shillong route.

The people of the region have been clamouring for aerial connectivity between the capital cities of Manipur and Meghalaya for a long time.

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Shillong which is home to a number of prestigious educational institutions and the educational hub of North-East India.

People were forced to travel 12 hours by road from Imphal to Shillong due to the lack of a direct route of transit or fly to Guwahati's Lokpriya

Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport then take a bus to Shillong.

To go to Shillong from Imphal or vice versa, the full journey took more than one day.

Locals may now easily travel between the two cities by taking a 60-minute flight from Imphal to Shillong and a 75-minute journey from Shillong to Imphal.

The airline will operate four flights each week and use its 78-seater ATR 72 aircraft. M/S Indigo airlines operates 66 UDAN routes at the moment.

Till date, 361 routes and 59 airports (including 5 heliports and 2 water aerodromes) have been operationalized under the UDAN scheme. The scheme is envisaged to establish strong aerial connectivity in all States and UTs of the country which hitherto were not connected, laying the foundation of a new regional segment in India’s aviation market.