Uncertainty over Flybig flights on Silchar-Guwahati route

A correspondent

Silchar: The people in the landlocked Barak Valley, battered by constant rain in the hills, are still searching frantically for the cheaper air service that they had been promised at the launch of the Silchar-Guwahati Flybig flights, amid rail congestion and a road blockade.

All was going well with the Silchar-Guwahati Flybig flights, but after running five months from June 1, 2023, the Gujarat-based airline company suddenly discontinued its service on November 1 last year. The Flybig airline had also closed down their ticket kiosk at Kumbhirgram airport, although they have been paying the monthly rental to the airport authority regularly. But the local staff, reduced from 20 at the time when they were operating to a poor 11 now, were not paid their due salary, a source informed.

Amid this uncertainty, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated in a WhatsApp communication with this correspondent that the company had withdrawn its services from Assam. However, when contacted over the telephone, Ratan Ambure, the Flybig Operational Incharge for the Northeast, told this correspondent that the company had not wrapped up its Silchar-Guwahati service completely. "We have placed orders for new aircraft with a France-based company. Once they make the delivery, we will resume the service. Hopefully the picture will be clear by June 15," Ambure said.

Railway service to Silchar is also on hold at present. Since April 25, the railway track in the hill section of the NFR has been under repair following damage from heavy showers and mudslides. The Shillong road to Barak Valley is also blocked after a series of landslides hit a stretch of the highway passing through the hills. Against this backdrop, the air service is the only viable way out for the residents of the Barak Valley. But the price of Silchar-Guwahati flights skyrocketed in light of the recent events. The Silchar-Shillong flight under the Udan project was much cheaper, but this had suddenly stopped operating, leaving the people in this landlocked region in the lurch.

 Also Read: Guwahati-Silchar FlyBig daily flight services launched (sentinelassam.com)

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