Assam: Helicopter service to connect four major cities from February 8

In order to boost trade and tourism, National helicopter carrier Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL) will be launching helicopter services on six routes in Assam on February 8.

Connectivity on the Dibrugarh-Jorhat-Tezpur-Guwahati-Tezpur-Jorhat-Dibrugarh network will commence in this phase, an official release said on Monday. 

The operationalisation of these routes in the state will create ease of travel for the residents of the region and give a boost to trade and tourism, the release said. Pawan Hans Ltd has been awarded 86 routes under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in six states and the launch on Wednesday will be under its first phase. 

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Subsequently, the services will be operationalised in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, the release said. 

The scheme is giving special impetus to providing air connectivity to the remote places of the northeastern states which have inadequate rail and road connectivity, it added.

Under the Centre's regional connectivity scheme UDAN, the government is mulling plans to boost up security measures for more than 60 airports in tier 2 and tier 3 cities to ensure the security of domestic air passengers travelling from small air terminals across India.

With the deployment of more than 1,600 troops, the airports will be brought under the comprehensive anti-terror cover of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

The proposal, prepared by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the CISF, is currently awaiting approval from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.