NEW DELHI, Dec 9 ? Keeping with the commitment made by the Prime Minister, the Guwahati-Bangkok flight has been revived and the first flight would leave on January 1, Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patil announced here today. But Air India is out of the picture and the weekly flights would be operated by the Indian Airlines.
The international carrier opted out of Guwahati-Bangkok sector following huge loss of revenue after operating the flights for about a year. The flight was introduced with much fanfare in April 2002.
Meanwhile, faced with flaks from MPs of the North-east, the Civil Aviation Ministry has agreed to ensure operation of morning and evening flights between Guwahati and Delhi. It was a long-pending demand of the region. The decision to start the flights was taken after a meeting with MPs of the North-east by the Civil Aviation Minister.
It was also agreed that Guwahati would be converted to a full-fledged hub of regional air operations shortly. Currently only one aircraft is stationed in Guwahati but the Minister assured that shortly the engineering branch and staff would be shifted to Guwahati from Kolkata making it hub of regional air operations. The move is likely to lead to increase in air connectivity in North-east.
Meanwhile, Kirip Chaliha said that they had expressed concern at the apathy of the Ministry to the North-east in matters of operation of flights and recruitment. He said the manner of operation of flights appears to be outcome of deliberate attempt of Indian Airlines to sabotage air operations in the region. He also said that it was illogical that all flights between Delhi and Guwahati operate at the same time, demanding that morning and evening flights be introduced by Indian Airlines.
Meanwhile, the Minister assured that the tangle over appointment of 31 junior engineers in the Fire Service department would be sorted out soon. Chaliha complained that the Airport Authority of India had no issued appointment letters to the boys despite completion of all formalities. The Civil Aviation Minister was also requested to organise special recruitment drives for boys and girls in North-east.