Meghalaya Govt Engages SpiceJet For Shillong-Delhi Flight Service

The Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) on Saturday signed an agreement with SpiceJet for operating direct flights between Shillong and Delhi, officials said in Meghalaya.
    
The flights will operate twice a week on Monday and Friday, they said.
    
"SpiceJet approached the state government and offered to operate the Delhi-Shillong-Delhi flights on its own as per the extant terms of MTC. SpiceJet has a total fleet of 23 Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft. The same aircraft will be deployed for the Delhi-Shillong-Delhi route," an official of the CM's office said in a statement.
    
The flights are expected to start operating from February 2023, it added.
    
SpiceJet is looking forward to fulfilling the state government's commitment and meeting the aspirations of the citizens of Meghalaya with direct flights between Shillong and Delhi, the statement said.
    
An initiative to operate the state government undertook direct Delhi-Shillong-Delhi flights in 2020.
    
Initially, Big Charter Pvt Ltd (FlyBig) was engaged to operate the flights. 
    
FlyBig had deployed Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft on the route which were initially chartered from SpiceJet. However, FlyBig later expressed its inability to continue its operations. Subsequently, the state government deliberated with FlyBig and explored other alternatives. 
    
Accordingly, the agreement with FlyBig was terminated last year.