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Raipur, Nov 21: Regional Connectivity Scheme to associate cities like Jagdalpur with Raipur and Vishakhapatnam has received major jolt as Union Ministry has terminated the RCS Route being provided to Air Odisha in Chhattisgarh Sector with immediate effect.
According to information received, the M/s Air Odisha Aviation Pvt Ltd failed to operate minimum 70% of flights scheduled by DGCA continuously neither for a period of 3 months nor for an aggregate period of four months within continuous period of 6 months as per clause 15.1 of Selected Airline Operator Agreement (SAO).
Further it has been reported that SAO agreement has Financial, Managerial, Crew and other Aircraft related issues which constraints its ability to operate the entire network smoothly.
According to information received, the RCS Network for Chhattisgarh Route included the Raipur-Bilaspur-Ambikapur-Bilaspur-Raipur-Jharsuguda-Raipur-Raigarh apart from the Raipur-Jadgalpur-Vishakhapatnam-Jagdalpur-Raipur. With the above orders, both the connectivity flights would stand terminated. It in the process has resulted in a major setback for the authorities who had been working hard to provide Regional Air Flight connectivity in Chhattisgarh.
Following the above violations, the officials have been directed to take action under clause 17 of SAOA i.e. termination of Contract for above said RCS Network under SAO agreement.
Chhattisgarh Government had undertaken development of Bilaspur, Jagdalpur and Ambikapur airstrip under RCS to promote the Domestic Air Connectivity but with the above decision, it has come a major setback for officials involved in the process. It is notable that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the domestic flight services for people of Chhattisgarh on June 14 this year.
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had earlier released the draft
Regional Air Connectivity Scheme (RCS) for stakeholder consultation, with the twin objectives of promoting balanced regional growth and making flying affordable for masses. The RCS is the key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy which was released by the Ministry on June 15, 2016. The scheme, which would be in operation for a period of 10 years, envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through revival of existing air-strips and airports.
