Dornier 228 starts commercial flight for civilians :

Alliance Air’s made-in-India Dornier 228 aircraft made its inaugural commercial flight from Mohanbari airport in Assam’s Dibrugarh district with Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kiren Rijiju on board. 

The duo, accompanied by senior government officials, took the flight to Pasighat in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh as Alliance Air became the country’s first commercial airline to fly Indian-made aircraft for civil operations. 

Till date, Dornier 228 planes are used by the armed forces only. 

The launch was formally done by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. 

Regular flight operations are slated to start from April 18 with Dibrugarh- Pasighat- Lilabari- Dibrugarh route to be operational immediately. 

It will be further expanded to connect Tezu, Mechuka, Ziro and Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh with Dibrugarh Airport acting as hub station. 

The aircrafts will be based and parked at Dibrugarh Airport and are being operated by Alliance Air under the UDAN-NER scheme of Government of India. 

The Centre-run Alliance Air had in February signed an agreement with the government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to lease two 17-seater Dornier 228 aircraft. The airline received its first Dornier 228 plane on April 7.