The flight services between Silchar and Imphal are set to resume after a gap of over 10 years, officials from the Silchar Airport revealed in a Twitter post. This will take place with effect from October 30 this year, under the Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik). According to the official airport sources, Alliance Air, which is a division under the Air India Asset Holdings Private Limited, will be operating flight services on a daily basis from the Silchar Airport in Assam.
“The much awaited Silchar - Imphal flight connectivity is getting resumed w.e.f 30.10.2022, after a long break of more than 10 years. We welcome Alliance Air once again at #IXS. The Flt no. 9I 743/742 will operate daily and the STA/STD is 1305/1330 hrs,” said the tweet by Silchar Airport announcing the development.
Silchar Airport is a Civil Enclave situated on the foothills of the Barail Hill range. According to the Airports Authority of India, it is the second busiest airport (with 70 civilian flights per week) in Assam and the 4th busiest in the northeast after Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal.
Alliance Air is a keen participant of UDAN, or Regional Connectivity Scheme, which is a flagship scheme by the government of India. The scheme plans to connect the underserved airports in the country to the key airports through flights costing around ₹2,500 per hour. The first UDAN flight was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Shimla-Delhi sector on April 27, 2017, with Alliance Air being the launch carrier.
The success of the RCS initiative is also leading the airline to expand its network in the northeast and southern sectors and will help improve its destination reach. The air carrier has operationalized 75 RCS out of the total 109 awarded routes under the government’s UDAN scheme. They recently expanded their aerial connectivity in northern India introducing their Dehradun- Lucknow- Dehradun route effective from August 10, this year.
Alliance Air was founded in April 1996 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Airlines. In February 2011, Indian Airlines was merged with Air India. Earlier this year, Air India had announced that Alliance Air will not be handled by them from April 15 this year.
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