PIB News Update: Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, today flagged-off its first flight operations between the capital city of Assam, Guwahati to Dimapur, the largest city of Nagaland, to the capital city of Manipur, Imphal, making it the 236route under the Regional Connectivity Scheme – UdeDeshKaAamNagrik, RCS-UDAN, under the Government of India. The inaugural event was graced by Shri N.Biren Singh, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Manipur, Shri LosiiDikho, Minister (PHED) Govt. of Manipur, Dr.SapamRanjan Singh, Chairman, Tourism Corporation of Manipur Ltd and other dignitaries from Air India and Air Alliance.
Flight services from Dimapur to Imphalwas a long pending demand from the region. TheCivil Aviation Minister, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri had given assurance for the commencement of flight operations in the region during his meeting with the Nagaland Governor, Shri RN Ravi on August 27, 2019, in New Delhi. This marks another step by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to establish a strong air network in North East India. Till now, for a mere distance of 200 km, people had to travelfor 7-hour by bus from Dimapur in Nagaland to reach Imphal in Manipur. With the establishment of this 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, as until now, Imphal is yet to be connected with India’s Railway Network.
Alliance Air will operate thrice-weekly flights; every Wednesday, Friday, & Sunday on this route. It currently connects 57 destinations, with the addition of Dimapur&Imphal there will be 59 stations in Alliance Air ambit. The airline will deploy its 70 seater aircraft on this sector.
Flight 9I 741 will depart from Guwahati at 0800hrs and arrive in Dimapur at 08555hrs further departing Dimapur at 0920hrs and arrive in Imphal at 1010hrs. Flight 9I 742 will depart from Imphal at 1035hrs and arrive in Dimapur at 1125hrs further departing at 1150hrs and arrive in Guwahati at 1245hrs.
Alliance Air continues to focus on new routes to connect regional destinations. The airline has been awarded12 new routes under UDAN-3.1, which are being launched progressively in the coming year bringing new destinations on India’s air map.
Through its codeshare with Air India, Alliance Air not only provides regional connectivity within the country but also offers seamless connectivity to regional passengers on Air India’s network in India and abroad.