NEW DELHI: State owned airline Alliance Air on Tuesday operated its newly purchased 17-seater Dornier aircraft that was manufactured in India.
"Under the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, Indian manufactured Dornier aircraft operated by Alliance Air took its maiden flight today. This is a historic moment," said Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia.
The sector this flight operated on was Dibrugarh-Pasighat-Lilabari. Alliance Air at present has 19 aircraft out of which 18 are ATR 72 and the 19th is the newly inducted Dornier.
The Dornier 228 turboprop has been manufactured by Hindustan Aeronauticals Limited (HAL).
"With the vision of Connecting New India, it is our endeavour to offer better air connectivity between tier-2 / tier-3 towns with their closest city hubs. Keeping with this vision, Alliance Air has expanded connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh with the first ever made-in-India aircraft from HAL - the Dornier 228," said an Alliance Air spokesperson.
The maiden route linking Dibrugarh with Pasighat and Lilabari will operate twice every week. The 17-seater non-pressurized Dornier 228 equipped with an air-conditioned cabin has the capability of flying both day and night operations. Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of AI Assets Holding Limited, had signed an MOU with HAL on 5th February 2021 at AERO INDIA 2021 for operating the civilian Dornier 228.
"Enhanced connectivity in the North-eastern region of India will help bolster tourism and trade in the region and contribute to the economic development of the states. With these new flights, travelers from remote places from Arunachal Pradesh will get multiple options for onward connectivity to the rest of the country and increase tourism opportunity in their respective area," said Scindia.
Going forward, Alliance Air will be operating to the less explored parts of Arunachal Pradesh from its Dornier base at Dibrugarh to Tezu, Ziro, Mechuka, Tuting & Vijayanagar.
There are only window or aisle seats in Alliance Air and the aircraft offers comfortable leg space with a seat pitch of 30 inch.