Meghalaya state gov’t demands answers from India’s flybig
The government of the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya has signalled its intention to take action against flybig (S9, Indore) if suitable reasons are not provided for its failure so far to provide air services between its capital Shillong and Delhi Int’l, local media reported.
The airline, which received its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation one year ago with the intention of making subsidised Delhi-Shillong its inaugural route – which it launched in January – has not operated the flights since September.
Conrad Sangma, the state’s chief minister, criticised the organisers of the route for poor planning and issued a show cause notice to flybig over the non-provision of the service, according to Meghalaya News.
The airline, which has been trying to secure funding for much of this year, currently leases one ATR72-500, VT-FBA (msn 0955), from Avation unit Airframe Leasing (S) Pte Ltd, the ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows. Flightradar24 ADS-B data reveals that the aircraft is currently flying city-pair routes between Kolkata Int’l and Guwahati, Agartala and Dibrugarh, Pasighat and Guwahati, and Agartala and Guwahati.
“We have already given a show cause notice to them and obviously we are very concerned about the whole thing. I have really been wanting this to take place. We will decide in the next few days how to move forward,” Meghalaya News quoted Sangma as saying.
The contract reportedly stipulates that the Shillong route must be operated with De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. The operator had been intending to source such a turboprop from SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int’l) but the larger carrier had refused to extend the agreement, resulting in the route grinding to a halt, the chief minister explained.
Manish Koul, a director at flybig, told The Shillong Times earlier this month that the carrier was in ongoing talks with the management of SpiceJet over the lease of a Q400. SpiceJet currently operates thirty-two DHC-8-Q400s, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows.