Sunday, February 17, 2019

Modified Route Dispersal Policy takes a toll on NE air services

With the number of flights to and from the northeastern States witnessing a sharp decline over the past several months, passengers from the region are facing severe difficulties travelling to other parts of the country.
The drop in flight numbers to the mountainous States of Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya is mainly attributed to modification in the Civil Aviation Ministry’s 25-year-old Route Dispersal Policy (RDP), which made it mandatory for all airlines to operate 10 per cent of their flights in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.

While ticket prices for flights to Kolkata, Delhi and other cities from all the northeastern states have shot up three to five times after Jet Airways, SpiceJet and IndiGo carriers suspended operations or reduced their frequency, the situation is most critical in Mizoram, from where no air tickets are available throughout February.

“Some people from Mizoram wanted to go to neighbouring Silchar (in southern Assam) to catch Kolkata or Guwahati-bound flights, but there are no tickets available until the first week of March,” said a travel agent in Aizawl.
16/02/19 Sujit Chakraborty/Sentinel Assam

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