[Assam] Leelabari gets air connectivity with Dibrugarh, Jorhat (The Assam Tribune, 21.01.2008)

[Buljit Buragohain]

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)



       
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