Leading airlines not keen to operate flights from Guwahati to Kathmandu & Mandalay

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Even though tenders have been floated to operate direct flights between Guwahati to Kathmandu and also Guwahati to Mandalay (Myanmar), the leading airlines have not shown keen interest in the venture.

The recent suspension of the international flights on the Guwahati-Dhaka and the Guwahati-Bangkok routes is the prime reason behind reluctance of the airlines to operate their services on the new routes.

After suspension of the Guwahati-Dhaka flight service by SpiceJet in September, 2019, Nok Air — the Thailand-based low-cost airline — suspended its operations from Guwahati to Bangkok from January 20 this year. Even though both the airlines suspended its services citing ‘operational reasons’, sources said very low passengers’ load had forced the companies to give a re-think on the viability of their operations on this route.

“The exact status of the airlines to operate the flights from Guwahati to Kathmandu and Mandalay will be known by the end of this February. The bidding process for the new international flights under the ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik’ (UDAN)-IV Scheme will end by this month. The recent suspension of flights from Guwahati to Dhaka and Bangkok is definitely a psychological setback for the airlines; and thus they are giving lukewarm responses to the ongoing bidding process. But we are hopeful and expect to see a positive result,” a source in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said. The AAI will adopt a wait-and-watch policy till the end of February.

Currently, Druk Air is the only airline providing international air connectivity from Guwahati, with flights to and from Singapore and Bhutan.

Rajesh Das, vice president of Industries and Trade Fair Association and a frequent international flier, hopes that the government will become successful to operate flights from Guwahati to Kathmandu and Mandalay. “But the government has to take adequate measures for the sustainability of such international flights services,” he stated, pointing out that “last but not the least, the Assam Government has to take the full responsibility of marketing and popularizing the flights services from Guwahati to Kathmandu and Mandalay.

Another international flier Syed Sadiq Hussain said that air connectivity between North East and Mandalay has bright prospects in the future. He pointed out that the recent trial operations between Imphal and Mandalay have shown positive outcomes.

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