Reimagining air connectivity in Northeast

The Ministry of Civil Aviation's offer of four pre-feasibility studies for Greenfield Airport development every financial year, free of consultancy or other charges for the Northeastern states, will provide a bigger push to expanding aviation infrastructure. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu hopes that this will encourage states in the region to plan and build new airports. Optimal utilisation of all the existing airports in the region through the operation of increased domestic and international flights is equally crucial for the region to soar in air connectivity. The number of operational airports in the region has increased from nine in 2014 to 16 at present, facilitating the increase in aircraft movement to nearly double over the past 11 years, and domestic passenger traffic has increased more than threefold, which speaks volumes about the growth in air mobility in the region as a whole. The North East Region Ministers' Conference on Civil Aviation 2025 & 3rd North East Aviation Summit, organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, discussed at length specific connectivity challenges, infrastructure proposals, and support requirements and facilitated interactions between state governments and key industry players, with a focus on investment facilitation and identifying implementation bottlenecks. It is important to learn lessons from the past while pushing new projects. The endorsement of a 'Statement on Air Connectivity' at the 5th Sectoral Summit of the North Eastern Council held at Aizawl in 2007 to review air connectivity sector progress in the region also triggered high hopes of spectacular transformation in air connectivity in the region. In its statement, the NEC set the target of operationalising up to 50 airports/airstrips in the region by the end of the XIth Five Year Plan, i.e., 2012, and providing up to 600 flights per week within the region/airstrips in a time-bound manner. The 54th Plenary Session of the NEC also endorsed a report of the Sidhu Committee and directed the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) and other related central government agencies to proceed expeditiously with advertising, screening and evaluating expressions of interest from potential operators so as to name by August 15, 2007, the party/parties to which will be entrusted the task of setting up a dedicated airline for the region. The number of weekly flights to intra-regional and pan-India destinations has significantly increased as a whole in the region, but Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati accounts for the lion's share, and connectivity to airports in the other states of the region needs to increase more to ensure spatial growth in air connectivity in the region. Following deregulation of Indian domestic civil aviation with the repeal of the Air Corporation Act in 1994, the airlines are free to select markets and routes, induct any aircraft type, and operate in compliance with the Routes Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) issued by the government. Therefore, the decision to introduce air services to or from any airport depends on the airline operator's operational and commercial viability, the government told the parliament, which explains skewed growth in flight connectivity in the region. Besides, the commencement of direct international flights from any point in India is purely a commercial decision of scheduled airlines on the basis of passenger demand, availability of slots, economic viability of the route and other associated factors, as explained by the government in the parliament. Evidently, the regional aspiration for improved air connectivity to domestic and direct flights to international airports will become a reality only when it meets with the operational and commercial viability of a route. Reimagining the airports in the region to be an integral part of multimodal logistics can unlock the potential of air connectivity growth in underutilised airports and airstrips. As the airports are located in state capitals and close to peri-urban areas, instead of looking at their potential for passenger movement in silos, maximising the use of the infrastructure developed to offer cargo service can increase the commercial viability of the routes. When it comes to creating cargo facilities, not all the airports in the region will require large handling facilities, but they will require facilities well equipped to maintain the cold chain for premium value agri- and horticultural products from the region, which have high demand in the domestic and export markets. Increased air connectivity within the region is crucial to give a boost to the tourism sector, as many high-end tourists miss the opportunity to visit multiple destinations on their wish list due to long travel hours by road or by train. While operation of aircraft figures more in the review and discussion, the potential of leveraging helicopter services for boosting tourism and augmenting healthcare and emergency evacuation of patients in the region is yet to be unlocked. Initiatives to improve air connectivity within the region require a new imagination of the utilisation of not just functional airports/airstrips but also of infrastructure that is lying unutilised.