very good news... when my father/uncles studied at dibrugarh..they used to fly by good old dakotas.. it was a short hop..
-manojda On Jan 21, 2008 11:17 AM, Buljit Buragohain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Leelabari gets air connectivity with Dibrugarh, Jorhat > >From Our Correspondent > NORTH LAKHIMPUR, Jan 20 – Bringing cheers to the public of Brahmaputra's > north bank of Assam and bordering Arunachal Pradesh, Leelabari airport in > North Lakhimpur has again been connected to Dibrugarh and Jorhat by air. > This was stated by Uday Sankar Hazarika of the DGA Travels here recently. > > This news comes as a New Year gift for the people of North Lakhimpur which > marks an end to a long and agonizing wait to see the resumption of flights > from Leelabari to Dibrugarh and Jorhat – two important destinations of Assam > after Guwahati – after a gap of almost 16 year. > > Leelabari was wiped out from the civil aviation map of the country in 1988 > when the then Indian Airlines, that had been operating daily flights to this > airport connecting Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tezpur, Guwahati and Kolkata by a > Fokker aircraft, stopped operating the service due to non-profitability and > growing aviation fuel hike. Since then the public of the entire north bank > area of the State have been deprived from having the national news dailies > on the same days, speed post and other important services that needed air > service for faster communication and transportation. > > People of this part of the region of the State, including the districts of > the bordering Arunachal Pradesh, were denied quick access to the medical > facilities of the Assam Medical College Hospital in Dibrugarh, which had > been availed by them with the daily flights to Mohanbari from Leelabari. > > Similarly, the people of North Lakhimpur, who share a common social and > personal bond with Jorhat because of their close proximity, had to go for > long, tedious and expensive bus service via Tezpur and Kaliabor covering > almost 400 kms due to the suspension of the flights to Rowriah from > Leelabari and due to the perilous journey by boat across the Brahmaputra. > Therefore the news of the resumption of the air connectivity to these two > important destinations of Assam from Leelabari has brought cheers and > enthusiasm to the public here in North Lakhimpur. > > It is worth mentioning here that the resumption of the flights to > Leelabari was possible only because of the relentless efforts by Uday Sankar > Hazarika, a local business entrepreneur and social worker who fought at > various levels in the Ministry of Civil Aviation for this. Hazarika's > continuous campaign at the Centre during the NDA government led to > modernization of the Leelabari airport which was reconstructed with a long > runway for the landing of Boeing and Airbus type of aircrafts with a > sophisticated passenger terminal which was inaugurated by then Union Civil > Aviation minister Shah Nawaz Hussain in 2002 with the tri-weekly service by > a Boeing 737 aircraft by the Alliance Air from Kolkata via Guwahati. > > However unreasonable fare attracted fewer passengers to this services, > which forced the suspension of this service from 2003 and instead the > Alliance Air began operating ATR aircraft for the same route to Leelabari. > > The private sector airliner Air Deccan began its Guwahati-Leelabari > services from 2006 along with the Alliance Air flights with six flights a > week. But the popular demand for the resumption of the air connectivity to > Dibrugarh and Jorhat from Leelabari remained unfulfilled till recently. Now > the announcement by the public sector Indian – the rechristened Indian > Airlines – to operate flights to these two destinations have brought joy as > new years gift to North Lakhimpur. > > According to the press release by the DGA Travels here, the Indian will > operate flights to Dibrugarh and Jorhat from Leelabari thrice daily on > Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. > > The frequency of flights by the Indian in this route would be Flight No: > CD-7765 leaving Lokapriya GNB International Airport on Monday, Wednesday and > Friday at 0545 hours and arriving at Rowriah airport in Jorhat at 0620 hours > and again departing at 0640 hours to arrive at Leelabari at 0715 hours. > > The flight CD-7767 will depart Leelabari on the same day at 0735 hours to > arrive at Mohanbari airport at Dibrugarh at 0810 hours. The flight CD-7768 > will take off from Mohanbari at 0830 hours to arrive at Leelabari at 0905 > hours on the same day. The flight CD-7766 will make its return journey to > Guwahati from Leelabari via Rowriah, Jorhat at 0925 hours and arrive at 1000 > hours at Jorhat. It will again depart for Guwahati at 1020 hours to land at > Lokapriya GNB International Airport, Guwahati at 1055 hours. > > (The Assam Tribune,21.01.2008) > > > > > --------------------------------- > Chat on a cool, new interface. No download required. Click here. > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > -- Manoj Kumar Das C 172 GF, Sarvodaya Enclave New Delhi 17 India 0091 9312650558 (HP) _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
