Scindia To Inaugurate Upgraded Infra At Tezu Airport In Arunachal Pradesh On September 24

Union Minister for Civil Aviation - Jyotiraditya Scindia, on September 24 will be inaugurating the upgraded infrastructure at the Tezu Airport in Arunachal Pradesh.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia along with CM Pema Khandu will inaugurate the newly-developed infrastructure at the Tezu Airport in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh on September 24. The newly-developed infrastructure include the extended runway, a new apron, a new terminal building, a fire station and an ATC Tower. These have been built at a cost of Rs 170 crore, officials said on Wednesday. The airport has been developed on 212 acre of land, and is capable of handling operations for ATR-72-type aircraft. The Airports Authority of India did the upgradation work of the airport, they said.

The airport was operationalised in 2018 under regional connectivity scheme UDAN. It is at present connected to Dibrugarh, Imphal and Guwahati through regular scheduled flights by Alliance Air and Flybig Airlines.

The terminal building of the airport has an area of 4,000 sqm with a peak-hour capacity of 300 passengers. It has five check-in counters at present, and will be increased to eight in the future.

The airport has two arrival carrousels and two aircraft parking bays for ATR-72-type aircraft, officials said.

The terminal building has a double-insulated roofing system, energy-efficient lighting system, solid waste management system, a system to re-use treated water for flushing and horticulture purposes and integrated rainwater harvesting.

The upgradation would help the airport handle more traffic, ensure better connectivity of the north-eastern region with the rest of the country, and boost tourism and trade, besides generating employment, officials said.

The fledgling Akasa Air has approached the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the DGCA to take action against pilots who left the airline without serving the mandatory notice period.

The airline, which operated its first commercial flight between Mumbai and Ahmedabad on August 7, 2022, has hit turbulence following the resignation of several pilots. It told the court it will have to cancel a large number of flights in September due to the resignations.

The airline told Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora the company was in a "state of crisis" because of these resignations and had to cancel multiple flights every day this month.

The court has asked the parties to file their written synopsis in the matter and listed it for further hearing on September 22.

The court also sought to know from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), represented by advocate Anjana Gosain, as to what action it takes in case flights have to be cancelled due to pilots' resignation.

The airline has also sought hefty compensation from the pilots for loss of revenue owing to cancellation of flights.

SNV Aviation Private Limited, which flies under the brand name Akasa Air, has sought a direction to the DGCA to “take coercive action against pilots who fail to comply with the mandatory notice period requirements, in terms of the Civil Aviation Requirement…” "We have sought legal remedy only against a small set of pilots who abandoned their duties and left without serving their mandatory contractual notice period," an Akasa Air spokesperson had earlier said in a statement.

While first officers have to mandatorily serve a notice period of six months, the requirement for captains is one year.

The airline said the act was not only in violation of their contract but also the country's civil aviation regulation.

"Not only is this illegal in law but also an unethical and selfish act that disrupted flights in August forcing last minute cancellations that stranded thousands of customers causing significant inconvenience to the travelling public," it said.