Direct flight services between Shillong, Delhi launched

Meghalaya was connected with the national capital by direct flight services on Monday, coinciding with the state reopening for tourists after remaining closed for nine months due to COVID-19 outbreak, an official said.

Meghalaya was connected with the national capital by direct flight services on Monday, coinciding with the state reopening for tourists after remaining closed for nine months due to COVID-19 outbreak, an official said. State Transport Minister S Dhar took the Flybig.in flight from Delhi which landed at Shillong airport, 25 km from the state capital, in the afternoon.

Flybig.in is a new entrant in the aero industry and will be operating the flights twice a week, the official said. ''It is a momentous occasion for the state and it will go down in history as the day when Delhi-Shillong direct flight started,'' Dhar told reporters at the airport.

He thanked Chief Minister Conrad Sangma for taking the initiative for the direct flight from Shillong to Delhi and Delhi to Shillong. Flybig was awarded the contract for this route through a tender floated by the Meghalaya Transport Corporation at the beginning of the year, a transport official said.

The air operator would initially operate the flight twice a week with their rented Bombardier Q400 aircraft..