EMN
Dimapur, December 17
Lok Sabha MP Neiphiu Rio has written to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati in relation to the night landing facility at Dimapur airport and hoped that he will take the matter with all seriousness. In a letter to the Union minister today, Rio said though Dimapur airport is equipped with and authorized for night landing, there have been cases when the facility has not been used by commercial flights causing great inconvenience and harassment to travelers who are totally dependent on the airport and Air India, the only airline operating in the State. Recently on November 30, the Prime Minister also landed in Dimapur using the night landing facility, he stated.
Informing that for long, the sunset time limitation was the prime reason for cancellation of delayed flights to the airports in the North East, Rio said this night landing facility has been provided under the initiative of Civil Aviation Ministry so that even flights which have been delayed due to unavoidable circumstance may be able to land at night.
“You are aware that the Dimapur Airport is the only airport in the State of Nagaland and it is also being used by passengers from parts of Assam and Manipur including army and para-military personnel,” Rio told the minister in his letter.
Citing an example, Rio said on December 13, passengers travelling to Dimapur from Kolkata underwent inconvenient harassment as they were made to sit inside the aircraft for more than two hours after hours of delay and were finally told that the flight has been cancelled. “This adversely affected the schedule of the travelling passengers, including those who were waiting at Dimapur,” the letter said. Apparently, the flight was cancelled as the return take off from Dimapur would have been under night conditions, despite the fact that the airport has night landing facilities and the facility had been used only recently, Rio said.
Drawing the minister’s attention in this connection, Rio wanted him to intervene and issue instructions to the airline authorities concerned so that such occurrences are not repeated in the greater interest of the passengers and the general public who are totally dependent on Air India for air connectivity in this part of the country.
“Appropriate action also needs to be taken on those responsible for causing the inconvenience to the passengers,” the letter demanded.
