In order to make inter-city transportation easier, the state government is set to start small flights between tier-two cities soon. The state is chalking out a new state aviation policy that will form and regulate guidelines on the air network between the cities.
The idea is to expand air services in the state and also generate more employment in the aviation sector. “We are chalking up a new aviation policy keeping in mind the expansion of air network in small cities. We want to connect Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur with daily flights having capacity of 50 passengers. The Centre has come up with its own aviation policy offering some concessions to airlines companies. We are studying the policy and designing our own version, which will be more attractive for the airlines,” an official from the general administration department (GAD) said.
The policy will focus on giving some benefits and subsidies to the airlines so that the initiative is feasible for them. “We want the ticket fare to be reasonable so that the passengers can opt for the airlines services.
“But we need to give some subsidy to the airlines to keep their fare rates low. Also there will be a possible demand for security of the airports and ground staff. We have to make our role clear in the policy with these (possible requests for) technical support,” the official added.
Asked why the new services should not be connected with Mumbai, the official said the city airport is too busy and small flights take more time for landing and take off. “It would be ideal to connect Mumbai with these cities apart from the current services. But the city airport is very busy and getting the desired time slot is difficult,” he added.
The GAD will also make the policy public soon in order to get possible suggestions and objections. This is also one of the initiatives in making cities smart under the Centre’s ambitious project of Smart Cities.
