Dedicated airlines failed in NE: NEC
Source: The Sangai Express / Press Trust of India
Shillong, September 03 2012:
The Centre's initiatives in getting land-locked NE states connected by dedicated airlines has "failed" as the service is market-driven and the government now is concentrating on development of air fields first, officials said today.
"Dedicated airlines in the north-east have failed," North Eastern Council Secretary U K Sangma said.
Dedicated flights which have been subsidised to be flown in routes which are considered less profitable have been discontinued recently, the NEC official told reporters.
Alliance Air which was operationalised in the region since 2001 has been discontinued in December last year for its unsatisfactory flight operations, he said.
Alliance Air pockets about Rs 49 crore in a year from the operation in NE, the NEC official said.
"Over the years we found out that the performance of the Alliance Air was not up to the mark.
Nagaland government had complained to us that flights from Dimapur were cancelled so many times and (for this) they quoted operational reasons.
So we discontinued our association with them," Sangma said.
The Centre's proposed 'intra-NE flights' which is set to replace Alliance Air did not attract big airline operators.
"Big private players in air industry never responded to the tenders called by the NEC thrice," the official said, adding only small players responded.
"When scrutinising their proposals, we found that they first get advance payment from us so they can buy airplanes.
That is why dedicated airlines in the north-east have failed," Sangma said.
The North Eastern Council instead is focused on improving airfields in the north eastern states like Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
"We are developing a green air field in Arunachal Pradesh, the new Shillong Airport and also the Guwahati Airport," he said.
The NEC secretary also informed that the proposal made by Nagaland government was rejected as the land they have chosen is on the top of a hill and too dangerous for an airport.
The NEC has also suggested that state governments in NE could follow suit in procuring chopper service as a means of getting land-locked areas connected by air.