Guwahati, Aug. 19: With an eye on the Assembly elections, the Tarun Gogoi government is trying hard to introduce a direct flight from Guwahati to Jeddah for pilgrims visiting Mecca next year.

A team of the Assam government, led by minister of state for home and Haj affairs, Rockybul Hussain, will hold a high-level meeting with the ministry of civil aviation early next month to discuss the necessary infrastructure that need to be created at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport to run the direct flight.

Though the Centre last year agreed to make the city a embarkation point for Hajis of the region, the direct Jeddah flight without a stop could not be introduced because the length of the runway at the LGB airport was inadequate for the (B747-200) of 400-seat capacity. The same Air-India flight ferried pilgrims to Jeddah from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Calcutta.

?Dispur has already taken up the matter of the runway with the Airports Authority of India. A modernisation scheme of the airport has been chalked out under which the length of the runway would be increased,? an official said.

He said what Dispur wants is immediate execution of the scheme so that the direct flight to Jeddah can be introduced as quickly as possible. ?If the direct Jeddah flight starts flying from the city it will be a significant achievement and the Gogoi government would make this a strong tool to woo Muslims before the election,? a source said.

A large plot of land near the airport has been selected to build a multistoreyed guesthouse for the Hajis. Though Hussain refused to divulge more, he said the government is trying its best and has even moved Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue.