First Flight of 'Made in India' Dornier Plane Today: 5 Key Things You Should Know 

The first-ever 'Made in India' Dornier 228 passenger aircraft was flagged off by Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia along with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju in Phasighat on April 12, 2022. The 17-seater passenger aircraft will provide air connectivity to remote towns of Arunachal Pradesh. 

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, "Light transport aircraft will facilitate regional connectivity in North-East. Taking forward the mission by PM Modi to have flight connectivity available for everyone, govt is looking forward to connecting North-East with other parts of the country."

The aircraft's operations marks an important milestone in the Indian aviation history, as it will boost air connectivity of the North East region with the rest of the country.

Light transport aircraft will facilitate regional connectivity in North-East. Taking forward the mission by PM Modi to have flight connectivity available for everyone, govt is looking forward to connecting North-East with other parts of the country: Union Min Jyotiraditya Scindia pic.twitter.com/LkDoRLdYtj

— ANI (@ANI) April 12, 2022

First Flight of 'Made in India' Dornier Aircraft: 5 Things You Should Know

1. The "Made in India" Dornier aircraft began its maiden service today, linking remote towns of Arunachal Pradesh to Assam's Dibrugarh.

2. The first flight of the passenger aircraft took off from Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh to Dibrugarh in Assam. 

3. The aircraft is operated by Alliance Air, making it India's first commercial aircraft to fly 'Made in India' aircraft for civil operations. 

4. The Dornier aircraft has been manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

5. The aircraft will land using the  Advanced Landing Grounds ( ALG) maintained by the Indian Air Force.

Made in India Dornier Aircraft: Key Features

• The 17-seater non-pressurized Dornier 228 with an AC cabin will be capable of both day and night operations. 
• The light transport aircraft will facilitate regional connectivity within the northeastern states. 
• Two of these aircraft were handed over to Alliance Air last week, one has been shifted to Dibrugarh airport for its first flight.
• The Dornier aircraft will be used to give air connectivity to remote places of eastern Arunachal Pradesh including areas close to the borders of Myanmar and China.
• The initial flights of the aircraft will be from Dibrugarh to Pasighat and later in the next 15 to 20 days, it will fly to other towns in Arunachal Pradesh including Tezu and Ziro under the phase 1 of the project. 
• Under the second phase, the aircraft will connect Mechuka, Vijaynagar and other places.
• The people living in these far-off towns of eastern Arunachal Pradesh require at least 1-5 days of travel to reach the nearest airports of Dibrugarh and Lilabari in Assam. 

Significance

The Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will also inaugurate the first Flying Training Organization (FTO) for North Eastern Region at Lilabari, Assam.

Both the inaugural events will be attended by Chief Ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Pema Khandu.

The Made in India aircraft's first commercial flight comes under Civil Aviation Ministry's scheme -"Providing air connectivity and Aviation infrastructure in North Eastern Region (NER)" to promote air connectivity in the North Eastern Region and to develop infrastructure for air connectivity. 

Background

The development of the North Eastern Region (NER) is important for India's overall growth. Under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), the Civil Aviation Ministry had identified the northeastern region as a priority area. 

To boost connectivity in the region, new airports are getting developed and old airports are getting revamped. Further, helicopter operations are being given focus for boosting connectivity in the region under the UDAN scheme considering the hilly terrain. 

Dornier, originally a german aircraft, was first deployed by the long-defunct regional airline Vayudoot to provide service to over 100 airports across India till the early 1990s.

HAL acquired the production licence for the aircraft in 1981 and manufacturers and assembled 125 of them at its Kanpur facility for both civilian and military purposes.