A “made-in-India” Dornier 228 aircraft took its maiden commercial flight from Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh to central Arunachal Pradesh’s Pasighat on Tuesday, marking a key milestone in India’s aviation history.
Jyotirditya Scindia, Union Civil Aviation Minister, and Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju, who were both on board the flight, called the event “historic.”
Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, welcomed them at Pasighat Airport, calling it a “glorious moment and historic event” that will improve aviation connectivity in the Northeast.
The 17-seater aircraft, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), will be operated by Alliance Air and will connect Dibrugarh with Pasighat and Lilabari (Assam). Beginning April 18, the flights will operate twice a week. HAL has been building Dornier aircrafts after transferring technology from the German corporation that owned them, according to an Arunachal government announcement, but made-in-India aircraft had not yet been deployed for public aviation.
The line will be expanded to encompass the Arunachal Pradesh cities of Tezu and Ziro in the next month.
“Expanding civil aviation is not simply a component of enhanced connectivity, but it is also the region’s economic engine.” It is guaranteed that when there is an airport with regular aircraft services, the region would flourish economically,” Scindia said, adding that it was a “new chapter” in the country’s Look East Policy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Scindia, is dedicated to bringing the Northeast up to speed with the rest of the country, as seen by the growing number of airports in the area. “The number will continue to climb in the coming six months,” he added, adding that the Greenfield Airport at Hollongi, Arunachal’s first full-fledged airport (being built at an estimated cost of Rs 650 crore), is just one of the 15 airports in the area. In the next days, eighteen new airstrips and heliports totaling Rs 180 crore would be developed in the North East.”
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