Commercial flight from Pantnagar to Dehradun from Friday

The first commercial airplane on Pantnagar-Dehradun-Pantnagar route will take flight on Friday as part of the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, days after the trial runs were successfully conducted on December 26.

Alliance Air, a wholy owned subsidiary of Air India, will operate the flight services from Pantnagar to Dehradun (flight AI-9823) and Dehradun to Pantnagar (AI-9824) with an ATR-72 type aircraft.

“All preparations for the new air service are in place. The inauguration ceremony will be performed by former chief minister and MP from Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, in the presence of three other state ministers,” Pantnagar Airport director SK Singh said Thursday evening.

Virendra Singh, station manager, Alliance Air, Pantnagar, said, “As per the schedule, the flight will take off from Pantnagar at 1.15pm and reach Dehradun at 2.05pm. The return flight from Dehradun will take off at 3.05pm to reach Pantnagar at 3.55pm.”

“Flights will operate on four days in a week — Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Singh added.

Flights services from Pantnagar to Delhi (AI-9816) will also be available on these four days. The flight will take off at 4.30pm to reach the national capital at 5.30pm.

In addition, the commercial air service from Naini Saini Airport in Pithoragarh will also begin from January 10. The flights will be scheduled for Pantnagar airport and also for Dehradun. This service will also start under the UDAN scheme, whose primary objective is to connect small cities of the country at affordable fares.

There were hiccups in starting the service in November as four houses were obstructing the landing area because of which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had postponed the launch. The approval to start the service was finally given by the DGCA, but with a rider.

“The licence to operate the service came last week with the condition that the obstruction created by the houses be removed in six months,” a senior official of the district administration said on the condition of anonymity.