New Delhi, 26th Sept. 2022:
The regional airlines of India, Alliance Air started direct flight from Delhi to Shimla under RCS UDAN scheme on 26th Sept. The inaugural flight was flagged off by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Gen. Dr. V.K. Singh(Retd) and Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur from Hindon Airport, Ghaziabad.This flight will operate with a brand new ATR 42-600.
At the inauguration, various key officials were present including Rajiv Bansal, Secretary MoCA, Usha Padhee, Additional Secretary, MoCA, Suresh Kashyap, MP (Lok Sabha), Principal Secretary to the GoHP, Devesh Kumar, Vikram Dutt, CMD AIAHL, Vineet Sood, CEO Alliance Air and others.
Initially, this flight of Alliance Air was flagged off by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2017. After operating for more than 2 years under UDAN, this flight was discontinued due to the renovation of the airport and the unavailability of suitable aircraft. Meanwhile, AAI has renovated Shimla airport and Alliance Air has inducted ATR-42 aircraft exclusively to connect airports of Himachal Pradesh.
In his address, MoS Gen. Dr V. K. Singh (Rtd.) said that this flight will provide convenience for the people of Shimla and Delhi NCR. The ministry is working to further increase this ATR connectivity from Shimla to Kullu and Shimla to Dharmshala. He congratulated the state government and thanked them for their support and cooperation.
Shri Jairam Thakur, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh expressed his thanks towards the Ministry of Civil Aviation for providing the ATR connectivity based on the need of the region. He further said that the state government is working towards creating more air connectivity in the state in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Flight 9I 821 will depart from Delhi at 0710 hrs and arrive in Shimla at 0820 hrs. Flight 9I 822 will depart from Shimla at 0850 hrs and arrive in Delhi at 1000 hrs. The introductory all-inclusive Fares for Delhi-Shimla and Shimla-Delhi will be INR 2141/-.
