NEW DELHI, May 25 – Decks have been cleared for exit of Alliance Air from the North-east, with the Centre all set to endorse the proposal for a new regional airways. The proposal for an exclusive airways to serve the North-east was given the go ahead at the recent sectoral meeting at Aizawl, disclosed Minister, Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Mani Shankar Aiyar.“We have decided to go ahead with the plan,” Aiyar said, talking to this correspondent on the sideline of the function organised to mark completion of three years of the UPA Government.Aiyar said Alliance Air, which is currently operating the regional air service would be given extension for a couple of months until new plansare firmed up.The need for a dedicated air service for the North-east is in tune with the overall plan of the Centre to more than double the inter-regional flights. There is a plan to supplement the 226 flights per week by having a network of 592 internal flights with separate hubs at Guwahati and Agartala,” said the Minister.DoNER has accepted the demands from the States for improvement of both inter and intra-region air services, setting up of Greenfield airports. Accordingly, new airports are coming up at Kohima, Itanagar, Gangtok, besides upgradation of airports at Pasighat and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, Baljek in West Garo Hills, Meghalaya and Kamalpur and Kailashahr in Tripura. The North Eastern Council (NEC) pays Alliance Air Rs 35 crore annually to operate the regional air service.
A New Delhi-based agency, Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism (FAST), was engaged to conduct a feasibility study to develop air connectivity in the North-east. The Ministry had last year given the green signal to float a dedicated airline at the 53rd NEC meeting. A special committee headed by Manipur Governor, Dr. SS Sidhu studied the FAST report. Last December, the Minister, DONER held a meeting with the Sidhu committee and representatives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Alliance Air, following which Alliance Air was asked to submit their best offer. Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) also jumped into the fray and made a presentation to the Minister, DONER and chairman, NEC. The Ministry held a series of meetings with both Alliance Air and IL&FS, and on April 9 it finalised the proposal to be submitted to the NEC, sources said.IL&FS has of late started training its focus for infrastructure development in the NER. The objective is to develop infrastructure facilities through public-private-partnership (PPP). According to IL&FS CEO, DK Mittal, “IL&FS is presently concentrating on the sectors that would have a substantial positive economic impact on the region” Development of such projects in the key contributing sectors, include tourism, energy thermal, hydro power, roads, cross border trade infrastructure. Interestingly, IL&FS picked up a small stake in Royal Airways.
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