Uttaranchal to fly high with Mountain Airline

State preparing blueprint for airline

The Uttaranchal government plans to start an air service to cater for the tourist and industrial destinations in the state, by introducing an airline called Mountain Airline for this purpose.

A techno-economic feasibility study on the proposed airline is currently under way.

"Connectivity is the main issue that the state faces when it comes to development. We want an airline that services the tourist and industrial destinations in the state," N N Prasad, tourism secretary, told Business Standard.

As part of the project, the state government will prepare a detailed report, which will be submitted to the Centre for approval. The Uttaranchal Infrastructure Development Company (UDeC), the investment promotion agency of the state government, is currently evaluating various options.

The state government's plan envisages acquiring or leasing a mix of small and medium-sized and amphibious aircraft for starting the airline. It is of the view that the amphibious aircraft will be of use considering the large number of lakes that the state has in major tourist destinations.

"We will also have to develop the large number of unused airstrips in the state. A proposal for this will be given to the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Besides, we will have to develop infrastructure available in some of the large number of lakes to enable it to handle aircraft," said Prasad.

The state government is also open to public-private collaboration in the project. Uttaranchal will be the first state government to come up with a proposal of setting up an airline to promote tourism and infrastructure in the state.

Besides, the state is planning to develop the airport at Dehra Dun to enable it to handle large aircraft. The present infrastructure can only handle very small aircraft and the airport also does not have the infrastructure to handle large passenger traffic.

"We will be taking a proposal on this to AAI because the airport is its property," said Prasad.

In the first phase, the airport will be developed to handle A 320 aircraft and the capacity of the airport will also be enhanced. On the other hand, the government also wants to start helicopter services to some of the main tourist destinations.

As per its plans, it wants to develop Dehra Dun as a hub airport for the state. It will then use Mountain Airline to transport passengers from Dehra Dun to other destinations.