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| Aiming high |
Guwahati, Oct. 14: A hub-and-spoke model is being considered to make airlines operations commercially viable in the Northeast, where air connectivity is vital given the rugged terrain.
The recommendation was a part of the final report of working group on improvement and development of transport infrastructure in the Northeast for the national transport development policy committee to the Planning Commission.
“The line taken by operators and ministry of civil aviation is that operations in the northeastern region are commercially loss-making. The model at present is not suitable, as it does not account for the topography, sparse spread by population, tenuous physical link with the rest of India and huge distances.
“A hub-and-spoke model with Guwahati and also Agartala, Imphal and Dibrugarh as hubs and other destinations as spokes should be a more appropriate model. Small aircraft stationed in Guwahati and other hubs could operate early morning (to take advantage of early daybreak in the region) and bring travellers to Guwahati/Agartala and shift into bigger aircraft to travel further to Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai, among others.
“The transit time should not be more than 30-40 minutes in the morning and also the evening so that travellers are able to reach destinations outside the region by 10am to 10.30am and return the same day if possible. At least for Delhi and Calcutta, this model needs to be in place,” the report said.
The importance of air connectivity in the Northeast emerges from the fact most places here are inaccessible and located in far-flung areas. With inadequate road and rail infrastructure, air connectivity is the most viable means of transportation, both for intra-state connectivity and for linkage to the mainland.
The report states that in order to get this model going, development of physical infrastructure for hubs would be required. “This is the easier part, as it involves plan investment by Airports Authority of India with funds from ministry of civil aviation or DoNER ministry or North Eastern Council. Immediate creation of airport hubs with hangars is strongly recommended in Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal and Dibrugarh.”
Small aircraft are a must for the hub-and-spoke model to succeed. At present, barring North East Shuttle, a private operator, no airlines is operating small aircraft. Alliance Air operates ATR42s with viability gap funding from NEC.
It says the role of helicopter services should not be ignored as these can operate from remote districts to smaller airports/airfields/regional hubs.
It says that by pursuing a new and innovative policy based on the small aircraft-centric rationale, airline operators are required to primarily focus on operationalising the existing smaller airports/airfields based on the hub-and-spoke model without locking up huge capital. This will not only be cost-effective, but also fit local requirements and utilise idle assets available in the region.
Asserting that public investment in the civil aviation sector is a must, the committee has recommended preparation and implementation of a publicly funded programme for complete development of the airport infrastructure in the region within the Twelfth Plan period.
In fact, the Airports Authority of India has projected a requirement of Rs 3,919 crore for the Northeast during the Twelfth Plan. The cost of land acquisition is included in this.
Though the state governments do not have to bear the cost of land acquisition for roadways and railways, “Airports Authority of India insists on getting land from the state governments free of cost. This imposes an undue burden on states and affects the development of airports. It is, therefore, recommended that land acquisition cost for civil aviation infrastructure in the Northeast should be borne by the Centre as part of the project cost,” the committee recommended.