Govt mulls steps to boost flights to HP, Uttarakhand

To amend route dispersal guidelines in backdrop of petition on lack of air connectivity to these places

The government is likely to change route-dispersal guidelines to boost air connectivity to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Under route-dispersal norms, airlines should deploy 10 per cent of their metro routes' capacity on Category-II routes to Jammu and Kashmir, north-east, Lakshadweep, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Further, one per cent of the capacity on metro routes needs to be deployed within Kashmir and north-east.

Sources say the civil aviation ministry has proposed to include Himachal Pradesh (Shimla, Kullu, Dharamshala airports) and Uttarakhand (Dehradun) airports in the Category-II routes. Currently, these airports are included in Category-III, with all other non-metro routes.

The move comes against the backdrop of an ongoing petition on the lack of air connectivity to Shimla and the Supreme Court criticising the government on the issue. The move is part of a draft civil aviation policy, which has been forwarded for inter-ministerial consultations, a source said. The Cabinet is likely to finalise the policy later this month. More destinations in Category-II routes will make it easier for airlines to comply with norms, the source added.

Civil aviation secretary R N Choubey did not comment. There are scheduled flights to Dehradun, Kullu, and Dharamshala. But no scheduled flights to Shimla. Air India stopped operations to Shimla in 2012.

In February, the ministry told the Supreme Court that Air India could lease ATR-42 aircraft to start service to Shimla, but it would require viability-gap funding from the state government to bridge the gap between costs and revenue. The ministry said a second airport in Shimla can be considered considering limitations at the existing airport.