Made In India Dornier plane starts flying its first commercial flight

The first ‘Made In India’ civil Dornier plane started its operation on Tuesday. It will provide connectivity in remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Alliance Air is operating the 17-seater non-pressurized Dornier 228 with an AC cabin capable of day and night operations. The plane is made for regional connectivity and small flights.

“As a part of this scheme, two important developments will take place on 12th April 2022 -First flight of Made in India HAL Dornier Do-228 from Dibrugarh in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. Alliance Air will be India’s first commercial airline to fly Indian made aircraft for civil operations. There will also be the inauguration of First FTO (Flying Training Organization) for North Eastern Region at Lilabari, Assam,” said an official.

Both events were attended by the Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia and the Chief Ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Pema Khandu.

The Centre-run Alliance Air had in February penned an agreement with the government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to rent two 17-seater Dornier 228 aeroplanes. The carrier accepted its first Dornier 228 plane on April 7.

The aeroplanes will be utilised to give air connectivity to remote spots of eastern Arunachal Pradesh including a few regions near the China and Myanmar borders. The Advanced Landing Grounds ( ALG) maintained by the Indian Air Force will be utilised for landing, officials added.

Alliance Air will at first be flying from Dibrugarh to Pasighat. Also, in the following 15 to 20 days, it will travel to Tezu and afterwards to Ziro, the two towns in Arunachal Pradesh. All of this will occur in the primary stage.

In the subsequent stage, it will connect Vijaynagar, Mechuka, Along and different places will be connected, a high ranking official of the Ministry of civil aviation said. This large number of places in eastern Arunachal Pradesh required 1-5 days of travel to come to the closest airports of Dibrugarh and Lilabari in Assam, authorities further added.

“The development of the North Eastern Region (NER) is not only of strategic importance but is also part of India’s growth story. Connectivity in NER is very essential and Under “Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)”, the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has identified NER as a priority area. This has helped in enhancing inter and intra connectivity for the NER,” officials said.

New airports are getting constructed and old air terminals are getting enhanced. Considering the uneven territory, helicopter operations under the UDAN scheme have been given the focus on connectivity.

Dornier is initially a german aeroplane previously used by the long-defunct regional airline Vayudoot to service more than 100 air terminals across India till the mid-1990s. In 1981, HAL bought the production permit for the aeroplane from the makers and made 125 of them at its Kanpur office for both regular citizen and military purposes.

Since 2009, Swiss aerospace engineering and defence company RUAG has been manufacturing the upgraded Do-228 New Generation (NG), with the fuselage, wings and tail being sourced from HAL. The Dornier 228 NG used for commercial operations is the first aircraft made entirely in the country. It is a far improved version as compared to its predecessors.