New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched the International Air Connectivity Scheme (IACS) aiming to enhance air connectivity, especially in the North-Eastern States. The information was revealed in Rajya Sabha by Minister of State (MoS), Civil Aviation General (retd) V K Singh on Monday. "Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched International Air Connectivity Scheme (IACS) scheme (International Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik(UDAN)) with an objective to enhance air connectivity from certain states of the country with selected international destinations to promote socio-economic growth," stated Singh.
He also said that the governments of Assam, Manipur, and Tripura have identified routes under the scheme. "This scheme is supported by the State governments. The state government of Assam, Manipur, and Tripura have identified routes connecting Guwahati, Imphal, and Agartala with selected international destinations viz. Bangkok, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Yangon, Hanoi, Mandalay, Kunming & Chittagong," stated Singh.
The Minister said that to date there are two international airports in the North East Region at Guwahati and Imphal which are operated by Guwahati International Airport Limited (GIAL) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) respectively. "Construction of a New Integrated Terminal Building for 2.4 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA), at a cost of around Rs 500 crore, has been undertaken at Imphal Airport to augment passenger handling capacity, which has been declared as an International airport," added Singh.
