In a bid to enhance connectivity between Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of India, Chief Minister Pema Khandu has urged the Central Government to up the flight connectivity from Donyi Polo Airport near Itanagar. Such a step will also help improve tourism and commerce in the state.
In his letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, the CM highlighted the challenges faced by the state and the people due to the absence of daily flight operations.
As of now, there is one flight each being operated from Donyi Polo Airport to Kolkata and to New Delhi. The frequency of the Kolkata flight is six times a week, while for New Delhi it is four times a week.
Challenges at Donyi Polo Airport
Khandu said that the flights available at the airport are often packed, operating at full capacity. This leads to surge in fares and unavailability of tickets, even in cases of medical and other emergencies.
The absence of daily flights hampers tourism and forces visitors to seek other travel options.
There is also the issue of no same-day connectivity when passengers travel from Itanagar to Bhopal and Kochi. They are having to spend an additional night in New Delhi or Kolkata. Besides this, the layover when going to Ahmedabad is 5 hours 25 minutes and in case of Bengaluru it is 6 hours, Khandu wrote to Naidu.
Talking about connecting Itanagar to Guwahati, Khandu asked Naidu to reinstate the flight services between the two cities. The flight services between these cities were discontinued earlier. Khandu also requested for an increase in flight services from Itanagar to New Delhi and Kolkata.
Khadu writes to IndiGo
Khandu wrote another letter to Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director of IndiGo, asking for an increase in the number of flights to Delhi. He also advocated for direct flight connectivity from Itanagar to other major cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.
Expressing his gratitude to IndiGo for operating the first flight from Donyi Polo Airport and for linking Itanagar to Kolkata and New Delhi through regular flights, Khandu noted that this initiative has significantly benefited the people of Arunachal Pradesh. He mentioned that the state’s civil aviation department has been instructed to provide all necessary support to IndiGo for enhancing and extending flight services.
IndiGo has announced that it will operate flights between Itanagar and Kolkata seven days a week starting July 31, eliminating the current gap in service on Wednesdays.
(With PTI inputs)