Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia has recently inaugurated three flights, connecting five cities of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Mizoram.

Two of the three flights on routes Imphal-Aizawl-Imphal, Lilabari-Ziro-Lilabari, and Shillong-Lilabari-Shillong routes will be operated under the government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme(RCS).

Flight connecting Imphal-Aizawl-Imphal under RCS UDAN will be operating 5 times a week, whereas flight connecting Shillong-Lilabari-Shillong will operate 4 times a week. Further reports suggest that flights between Lilabari-Ziro-Lilabari will be operating 2 times a week. These flights will be operated by Alliance Air.

These flights are aimed at boosting aerial connectivity in the cities of the Northeastern part of the country, and will play a vital role in creating ease of living for the residents of the region and boosting tourism and trade.

Scindia, in his inaugural speech, congratulated the people of the region and added that this is a significant step in the direction of providing air connectivity to every part of the country.

The Minister further added that the Union Government has given special emphasis on air connectivity for the Northeastern region.

As per the reports, in the past eight years, seven airports have been developed in the region.

Reportedly, under the UDAN scheme, 14% of routes have been allotted to the northeast. An INR 500 crore corpus has been dedicated to the air connectivity in this region, and 25 airports have been incentivised in the region under Krishi UDAN.

The Minister also announced that under International UDAN, two new routes Agartala-Chittagong-Agartala and Imphal-Mandalay-Imphal will be made operational to expand the scope of air connectivity in the Northeastern states from national to international level.

1. What are the new flight routes launched in Northeast India?
   The new flight routes are Imphal-Aizawl-Imphal, Lilabari-Ziro-Lilabari, and Shillong-Lilabari-Shillong.
2. What is the latest update on flights under international UDAN scheme?
   Under International UDAN, two new routes Agartala-Chittagong-Agartala and Imphal-Mandalay-Imphal will be made operational to expand the scope of air connectivity in the Northeastern states
3. When is the best time to visit Northeast India?
   The months starting from March to June are considered to be the best time to visit North East.