Hailakandi, May 26: A Calcutta-Silchar-Guwahati Jet Airways flight was the first to land at night in Silchar's Kumbhirgram airport yesterday, fulfilling a long-standing wish of the people of Barak Valley.

A senior official of Jet Airways, Debashis Barthakur, said the flight from Calcutta landed in Silchar at 7.34pm and flew onto Guwahati with 60 passengers. It landed in Guwahati at 8.05pm.

An Airports Authority of India official said the night landing has started on a trial basis after temporary clearance from the Union defence ministry and it would be regularised soon.

The length of the runway has been extended from 5,857ft to 7,500ft for night landing. The night-landing facilities were installed in 2009 but it could not start owing to the non-receipt of clearance from the director-general of civil aviation and the defence ministry.

Silchar MP Sushmita Dev said the long-cherished dream of the people of Barak Valley has been fulfilled.

President of Shyama Prasad Mookherjee Memorial Swartha Suraksha Parishad, Haran Dey, demanded reduction in the price of the tickets on the Silchar-Guwahati route. In a letter to civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Dey said the airline companies are charging exorbitant rates on the Silchar-Guwahati and Silchar-Calcutta routes. He said the Centre has announced that the price of the tickets should be within Rs 2,500 for a short journey of 500km but it is not being followed by the companies.