Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, on Saturday flagged-off its first flight operations between Guwahati in Assam to Dimapur, the largest city of Nagaland and Imphal in Manipur, under the Regional Connectivity Scheme - Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN).
The inaugural event was graced by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Losii Dikho, Minister (PHED) of Manipur government, Dr. Sapam Ranjan Singh, Chairman, Tourism Corporation of Manipur Ltd and other dignitaries from Air India and Air Alliance.
Alliance Air will operate thrice-weekly flights -- every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on this route. It currently connects 57 destinations and with the addition of Dimapur and Imphal, there will be 59 stations in Alliance Air ambit, according to an official statement.
Flight 9I 741 will depart from Guwahati at 8 am and arrive in Dimapur at 8:55 am. The plane will depart from Dimapur at 9:20 am and arrive in Imphal at 10:10 am. On the other hand, Flight 9I 742 will depart from Imphal at 10:35 am and arrive in Dimapur at 11:25 am. The plane will depart from Dimapur at 11:50 am and arrive in Guwahati at 12:45 pm.
"Flight services from Dimapur to Imphal was a long pending demand from the region. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had given assurance for the commencement of flight operations in the region during his meeting with Nagaland Governor RN Ravi on August 27 here. This marks another step by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to establish a strong air network in North East India," the statement said.
Till now, for a mere distance of 200 km, people had to travel for seven hours by bus from Dimapur to reach Imphal. With the establishment of the air route, people can now travel to Imphal in 50 minutes by air from Dimapur and access the air connectivity to other parts of the country as well from Guwahati.
This flight marks the inception of the first-ever alternative option of connectivity to Imphal. Until now, the Manipuri capital is yet to be connected with India's railway network, the statement said.