Made-in-India Dornier plane takes off for first commercial flight

Guwahati: India’s first entirely indigenously made Dornier type civil aircraft was pressed into service in the northeast with Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia flagging off the maiden flight from Assam’s Dibrugarh to Arunachal Pradesh’s Pasighat.

The officials of the Airport Authority of India said that the Dornier type aircraft of Alliance Air made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) began its commercial passenger services in different northeastern states.

The state-owned HAL has been manufacturing Dornier aircraft since the transfer of technology from the German firm that owned it, but made-in-India aircraft were not used for civil aviation until now.

The 17-seater aircraft is capable of both day and night operations and will connect tier 2 and 3 towns in the region.

The Dornier aircraft would operate on the Dibrugarh-Pasighat-Lilabari-Guwahati route twice a week beginning April 18.

During the event, Scindia was accompanied by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Union Law, and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju along with other dignitaries.

Speaking at the event, Scindia said that the new fixed-wing passenger services would be operated by Alliance Air. Under a tripartite agreement, HAL has developed two Dornier 228 aircraft, especially for operations by Alliance Air in Arunachal Pradesh, he said.

The Civil Aviation Minister said the Dornier 228 flights will start operating to and from Tezu in the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh within the next 3 weeks and in the next 30 days, Ziro in Lower Subansiri would also be connected.

Image courtesy of (Photo courtesy: Twitter@kishanreddybjp)

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