Air Connectivity in North-East Region by Director General of Civil Aviation Ministry of Civil Aviation 30 th October,

Need for Air Services in NER Most of the places in the North-Eastern states are inaccessible and located in far flung areas Road and Rail facilities are inadequate Viable means of transportation in the North- Eastern states is by air 2

Air Connectivity in NER 3

1970s Air Connectivity in NER Provided by Indian Airlines only (12 Stations) StateStations Airlinked Assam Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Lilabari, Silchar, Tezpur ManipurImphal NagalandDimapur TripuraAgartala, Kailashahar, Khowai, Kamalpur 4

1980s Air Connectivity in NER Provided by Indian Airlines and Supplemented by Vayudoot (18 Stations) StateStations Airlinked Arunachal PradeshAlong, Daporijo, Pasighat, Tezu, Ziro Assam Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Lilabari, Silchar, Tezpur ManipurImphal MizoramAizwal MeghalayaShillong NagalandDimapur TripuraAgartala, Kailashahar, Kamalpur 5

1990s Air Connectivity in NER With the closure of Vayudoot, air services got discontinued in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya due to: –Non-availability of suitable type of aircraft for operations to existing airports in these states Air services continued in the following States: –Assam –Manipur –Mizoram –Nagaland –Tripura 6

Present Air Connectivity in NER (Airport & Airline-wise) AI – Air India, CD – Alliance Air, 9W – Jet Airways, S2 – JetLite, G8 – Go Air, IT - Kingfisher Airlines, SG – Spicejet, 6E – IndiGo  Jet  ATR42 StationAICD9WS2ITG8SG6E Agartala  Aizwal  Dibrugarh  Dimapur  Guwahati  Imphal  Jorhat  Lilabari  Shillong  Silchar  Tezpur  Total Stations

Air Connectivity in NER Winter 2005 Winter 2011 Percent Increase Flights per day % City pairs per day % Seats Deployed per day % 8

Traffic Trends in North East Region Year Aircraft MovementsPassengersFreight (In Tonnes) No.% ChangeNo.% ChangeNo.% Change % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 9

Connectivity from Metros 10

Intra-connectivity from Guwahati 11

Intra-connectivity from Imphal 12

Intra-connectivity from Agartala 13

Non-Scheduled Operations in NER North-East Shuttles operates non-scheduled air services in North-East region with: –Two Dornier DO-228 Operating on following routes: –Guwahati-Dimapur –Guwahati-Imphal –Guwahati-Silchar –Silchar-Imphal 14

Weekly Departures from GAU,IXA & IMF Guwahati-298 Agartala-105 Imphal-84 All the three stations airlinked to metros –Guwahati with Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai –Imphal with Delhi and Kolkata –Agartala with Delhi and Kolkata 15

International Operations from NER Air India used to operate international flight on Guwahati-Bangkok-Guwahati route Air services discontinued w.e.f. 1 st Jul 2008 due poor load Present international operations by Druk Air: –Paro-Guwahati-Bangkok & VV2 flts/week –Paro-Bagdogra-Bangkok & VV4 flts/week 16

Hub in NER Guwahati is already serving as an hub Imphal and Agartala are prospective hubs Night landing facility available Adequate apron space for night parking –Hangar for A320 family type of aircraft being planned Due to early sunrise, early departures possible for more intra connectivity Convenient afternoon/evening connectivity to metros 17

Helicopter Operations in NER 18

Helicopter Operations in NER Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL) is primarily providing helicopters services in NER with subsidy from Central Govt for: –Carriage of passengers –Emergency/medical evacuation –VIP transportation –Tourism Global Vectra also operates passenger services in Arurachal Pradesh with one Bell 412 helicopter 19

Helicopter Operations in NER PHHL operations in following NER States: –Tripura- One Dauphin SA 365N –Sikkim- One Bell 206/407 –Oil India Ltd.- One AS350 (for pipeline surveillance) 20

Status of Airports in NER 21

Airports in NER Total 22 airports in the North-East region Operational - 12 (11 are air linked) –Agartala, Aizwal, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Guwahati, Imphal, Jorhat, Lilabari, Shillong, Silchar, Tezpur and Tura Non-operational - 10 –Along, Daporijo, Kailashahar, Kamalpur, Khowai, Pasighat, Rupsi, Tezu, Turial and Ziro 22

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Arunachal Pradesh – 5 airports (all non-operational) AirportOwnerElev. (ft)Runway Length (ft) PCNNav Facilities Ground Lighting Facilities AlongDefence NDB, VHFNil DaporijoDefence Nil PasighatAAI Nil TezuDefence NDB, VHFNil ZeroAAI NDB, VHFNil 24

– 7 airports (One non-operational) AirportOwnerElev. (ft) Runway Length (ft) PCNNav Facilities Ground Lighting Facilities Night Landing Watch Hrs DibrugarhAAI DVOR/ DME, NDB HIRL, AFL, PAPI Day/Night IFR/VFR GuwahatiAAI DVOR, NDB, ILS, ASR, RSR HIRL, AFL, PAPI Day/Night IFR/VFR JorhatDefence DVOR/ DME, NDB HIRL, AFL, PAPI Day IFR/VFR LilabariAAI DVOR/ DME, NDB HIRL, AFL, PAPI Day IFR/VFR Assam 25

– 7 airports (one non-operational) AirportOwnerElev. (ft) Runway Length (ft) PCNNav Facilities Ground Lighting Facilities Night Landing Watch Hrs RupsiAAI N/A SilcharDefence DVOR/ DME, NDB PAPI Day IFR/VFR TezpurDefence DVOR/ DME, NDB PAPI Day IFR/VFR Assam 26

– 2 airports (one non-operational) AirportOwnerElev. (ft) Runway Length (ft) PCNNav Facilities Ground Lighting Facilities Night Landing Watch Hrs LengpuiSG DVOR/ DME, NDB HIRF, AFL, PAPI Day IFR/VFR TurialAAI N/A Mizoram 27

– 1 airport (operational) AirportOwnerElev. (ft) Runway Length (ft) PCNNav Facilities Ground Lighting Facilities Night Landing Watch Hrs ImphalAAI DVOR, DME, NDB, ILS PAPI Day/Night IFR/VFR Manipur 28

– 2 airports (one ready but non-operational) AirportOwnerElev. (ft) Runway Length (ft) PCNNav Facilities Ground Lighting Facilities Night Landing Watch Hrs ShillongAAI DVOR, NDB PAPI Day IFR/VFR TuraSG NDBDay VFR Meghalaya 29

– 1 airport (operational) AirportOwnerElev. (ft) Runway Length (ft) PCNNav Facilities Ground Lighting Facilities Night Landing Watch Hrs DimapurAAI DVOR/ DME, NDB, ILS HIRL, PAPI Day IFR/VFR Nagaland 30

– 4 airports (3 non-operational) AirportOwnerElev. (ft) Runway Length (ft) PCNNav Facilities Ground Lighting Facilities Night Landing Watch Hrs AgartalaAAI DVOR/ DME, NDB, ILS HIRL, PAPI Day/Night IFR/VFR KamalpurAAI N/A KhowaiAAI N/A KailashaharAAI N/A Tripura 31

Greenfield Airports in NER Proposed Greenfield Airports – 03 –Itanagar –Cheithu –Pakyong 32

Pakyong Airport Gangtok (Sikkim) for ATR 72 Aircraft –Estimated project cost – crores –Work started in Jan 2009 –Runway dimensions 1700 m x 30m 02/20 –Likely to be completed by June

Cheithu Airport Kohima (Nagaland) for ATR 72 Aircraft –Estimated project cost - Rs. 954 crores –DPR approved by State Govt. –To be fully funded by Govt. –Estimated cost under consideration by Public Investment Board 34

Itanagar Airport For ATR 72 aircraft –Proposal costing Rs. 812 crores submitted to Public Investment Board in Mar 2010 –Evaluation report of alternate site (Holangi) suggested by State Govt. –Firmed up decision from State Govt. regarding new site awaited –To be funded 90% by Govt. grant and 10% by Ministry of DoNER or alternately fully funded by Govt. 35

Kokrajhar/Rupsi Airport Pre Feasibility Study for construction of New Green Field Airport at Kokrajar conducted by AAI Report indicates site not suitable Bodo Land Territorial Council (BTC)/State Govt. requested to identify another site BTC agreed for Rupsi instead of Kokrajhar Airport under consideration for handing over to IAF for development, operations and maintenance under joint user MOU 36

Development of Airports in Arunachal Pradesh Along, Pasighat and Ziro to be developed by MOD as per directions of PMO –MOU signed between AAI/SG/MOD Daporijo and Tezu to be developed by AAI 37

Government Commitment and Initiatives 38

Government Commitment To improve airport and infrastructural facilities To provide better air links within the North-East and with rest of the country Alliance Air providing air connectivity in North- East Region from 2003 onwards with subsidy from NEC: –Rs crores in 2003 –Rs crores in 2008 –Rs crores in

Government Initiatives Initial NOC granted to: –Sky King Aviation in Aug., 2006 for scheduled air services within North-East region –Surya Air in Oct 2006 for non-scheduled operations within North-East region –Zav Air in Jan 2009 for scheduled regional services in East and North-East region However, no one commenced air services in NER as of now 40

Government Initiatives As of now, Government initiatives of improving air connectivity through –Compliance of Route Dispersal Guidelines –NEC grant Route Dispersal Guidelines not sufficient to take care of air connectivity issues of NER in an objective manner 41

Committee on Air Connectivity Issues To review air connectivity issue, Committee constituted by MoCA under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary Committee suggested following measures for overall improvement of air connectivity in NER: –Modification of Route Dispersal Guidelines –Regional Air Connectivity Fund (RACF) –Promoting RSOPs –Code share between RSOPs/NSOPs and SOPs/NSOPs –Promotion of low cost airports 42

Recommendations of Committee Salient recommendations of the Committee on overall improvement of air connectivity are: –Regional Air Connectivity Fund to be established for explicit subsidy to airlines to operate on routes with PLF below 50%, new routes and to 19 routes with high tourism potential –States a should also share subsidy burden under RACF –NSOPs should be treated as an important tool of providing regional connectivity –Code Sharing may be allowed between SOPs and NSOPs 43

Recommendations of Committee Salient Recommendations.... Contd –States to play proactive role in enhancing connectivity through deployment/activation of low cost airports, underwriting of airline operations, reduction of taxes on ATF –RSOPs to be allowed to fly to metro of another region on hopping basis –Smaller aircraft be deployed within NER for better air connectivity as majority of scheduled domestic airlines have bigger aircraft which are not suitable for intra North-East operations owing to infrastructure and demand constraints 44

Recommendations of Committee Salient Recommendations.... Contd –Airlines may be permitted to shuffle/select routes within Cat II/IIA in NER, without seeking prior approval of the Government as long as their number of flights to North East are not reduced –Additional capacity in future in NER be deployed in the States of Meghalaya and Nagaland only subject to market demand and adequate airport infrastructure 45

Recommendations of Committee Salient Recommendations.... Contd –1/3 rd of RACF to be used for subsidy to Low Cost Airports/Helipads & Heliports –225 State and Private Airports to be used for commercial operations. Emphasis should be on small low cost regional airports –AAI to enter into management contract with States to activate their airports –All districts must have at least one all-weather helipad to promote helicopter operations 46

Recommendations of Committee Salient Recommendations.... Contd – Lump sum charges on small aircraft at low cost airports –Activation of already existing airports/airstrips should be exempted from the 150 kms limitation as they are not Greenfield airports 47

Study for Better Air Connectivity in NER Comprehensive study to address: –Traffic forecast in North-East region –Air connectivity issues –Airport development based on demand –Feasibility study on regional operations within NE region –Feasibility study on helicopter operations within NE region –Overall quantum of financial implication for improvement in air connectivity and airport infrastructure Study planned to be conducted by appointment of reputed consultant 48

Study for Better Connectivity in NER Detailed Terms of Reference prepared by DGCA in consultation with Ministry of DoNER Study to be funded by NEC EOI published in Mar 2011 –14 EOIs received –Five organisations short-listed –Three organisations submitted financial bid –Financial bid to be opened on 3 rd Nov 2011 Time frame of study would be approx six months 49

Summary Infrastructure facilities required at airports in North-East Region –Night landing facilities at all airports (currently available at Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal) –Navigational aids required at all airports –Facilities for Hangars/Security for night stop base aircraft Need for morning/evening convenient air connectivity from State Capitals to National Capital Setting up of an Aviation Training Academy in the North-East 50

Thank you 51