Aizawl, Nov. 10: Alliance Air is back to full operational strength in the Northeast after a period of crisis, managing director Deepak Brara said today. He said the airline, a subsidiary of Indian Airlines, has finally overcome the shortage of pilots. “The crisis that was there 10 days back is over,” Brara said.

Alliance Air has lately been recruiting pilots from Argentina and Africa. “We are now operating daily flights between Aizawl and Kolkata and Aizawl and Guwahati,” the managing director said.

While Indian Airlines operates between Kolkata and Aizawl with its Airbus 300, Alliance Air flies between Guwahati and Aizawl with its fleet of ATR 42 aircraft.

Brara said Alliance Air had introduced low fares for Guwahati-bound flights and the lowest fare available — applicable for eight to 10 seats per flight — was Rs 2,005.

On why the special fare was still higher than those offered by private airlines such as Air Deccan, which operates between Aizawl and Kolkata, Brara said the Indian Airlines and Alliance Air fares were “competitive”.

Brara said Alliance Air had taken initiatives to improve its services. The number of cancelled flights is low and there has been a distinct improvement in flight timings, he claimed.

“These days flights are cancelled only because of inclement weather, ” he said.

The airlines will stabilise its existing services within six months but there is no plan to connect Aizawl with other Northeast states, he said.

Brara was accompanied by Alliance Air general manager G.C. Biswas and director of civil aviation Ranjit Bansai. Brara said as long as there were passengers, additional flights would not be a problem.