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Guwahati,
Thursday, December 26, 2002
Alliance Air services in N-E
inaugurated
By A Staff
Reporter
GUWAHATI, Dec 25 � �North East with its enchanting
destinations can become the Switzerland of India with improved air
connectivity within the region,� said the Union Minister for Civil
Aviation Shahzawaz Hussain at the inauguration of first 50-seater ATR-42
aircraft launched by the Alliance Air at LGBI Airport here this morning.
Addressing the function held on the occasion, the Civil Aviation Minister
informed that the Alliance Air with fund from the North Eastern Council
(NEC) would soon introduce four 50-seater aircraft exclusively for the NE
region to improve air connectivity within region and with
Kolkata.
First of the four 50-seater ATR-42 aircraft to be
procured by the airline, was flagged off here by Assam Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi in the Kolkata-Guwahati-Dimapur-Agartala-Kolkata route with
the Union Civil Aviation Minister, and Union Minister for Department of
Development of NE Region (DONER) Arun Shourie on board, alongwith top
Alliance Air officials. The Alliance Air will procure another aircraft
within the current financial year while the rest two 50-seater aircraft
will be pressed into operation by the end of next year with the fund
provided by North Eastern Council.
The services of the
50-seater aircraft will be gradually extended to link Agartala, Aizawl,
Dimapur, Imphal, Lilabari, Shillong and Silchar with Kolkata and Guwahati
on daily basis in order to improve connectivity. The Civil Aviation
Minister informed that with the four 50-seater aircraft becoming fully
operational, the seating capacity in the region will be enhanced to 4177
from the current level of 2125. All these ATR-42 aircraft will be based at
Kolkata while Guwahati will be a sub-base to provide technical
support.
The Civil Aviation Minister today made an appeal to
the NE State governments to reduce the tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF)
from the present 22 per cent in the line of Andhra Pradesh government
which has reduced it to 4 per cent, to lure aircraft to land in the region
for the purpose of refilling. Earlier, addressing the function, the State
Chief Minister hoped that with the improvement of air connectivity the
regional disparity in the region would be removed to a greater extent. The
State committee of the BJP hailed the introduction of the ATR-42 aircraft.
In a press release, the BJP unit said the aircraft would meet a long-felt
need in the
region. |
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