First-ever commercial flight of ‘Made in India’ plane today: What’s the aircraft? Where will it fly?

It’s a big day for aviation in India. The first-ever “made in India” commercial flight – a 17-seater Dornier aircraft – will start operations today.

The aircraft will link five remote towns of Arunachal Pradesh to Assam’s Dibrugarh, boosting air connectivity in the northeastern region of the country.

The first historic flight of the “Made in India” Dornier Do-228 will take off from Dibrugarh in Assam and will land in Pasighat town in Arunachal Pradesh.

Who has made the aircraft and who will operate it?

The Do-228 has been made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and delivered to Alliance Air on 8 April. The 17-seater aircraft is capable of day and night operations.

Alliance Air will be India’s first commercial airline to fly an India- made aircraft for civil operations. Responding to the development, Alliance Air tweeted, “Alliance Air takes delivery of its first Made in India Dornier 228. The 17-seater non-pressurised Dornier 228 with an AC cabin capable of day and night operations. The light transport aircraft will facilitate regional connectivity in northeastern states.”

Two aircraft have been handed over to Alliance Air – one has been shifted to Dibrugarh airport, the newest hub for the regional airline.

Where will the Do-228 operate?

Alliance Air will initially be flying from Dibrugarh to Pasighat. And in the next 15 to 20 days, it will fly to Tezu and then to Ziro, both towns in Arunachal Pradesh as part of the first phase.
The second phase aims to connect Vijaynagar, Mechuka, Along and other places, a top Ministry of Civil Aviation told NDTV.

Remote places in eastern Arunachal including some areas close to the China and Myanmar borders will now have air connectivity. The Advanced Landing Grounds maintained by Indian Air Force will be used for landing, NDTV reports.

Those residing in these eastern Arunachal Pradesh towns needed anywhere between one to five days of travel to reach the nearest airports of Dibrugarh and Lilabari in Assam. With the new ‘Made in India’ commercial aircraft that’s about to change drastically. Until now, the Dornier 228 planes were used only by the armed forces.

A government initiative

Improving connectivity in the northeastern states is part of the government’s Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) regional connectivity scheme.

The take-off of the maiden commercial flight will be a significant event attended by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and his counterpart from Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu.

Scindia had announced on 19 August 2021 that the Centre aimed to set up 1,000 air routes and establish 100 new airports by 2025 under the UDAN scheme.

A month on, HAL signed a lease agreement with Alliance Air Aviation Limited for the supply of two civil Do-228 aircraft for regional operations in Arunachal Pradesh, reports The Indian Express.

This is all part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s larger Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative to make India self-reliant.

HAL also has delivered its first passenger-version of the Do-228 aircraft to the Mauritius government.

With inputs from agencies

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