Efforts on to connect Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur: Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal

GUWAHATI: In what is expected to be a boost to India’s Act East policy, Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said efforts were ongoing to connect Guwahati with direct flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

On Monday, Sonowal inaugurated a daily non-stop flight on the Guwahati-Dhaka-Guwahati route. From Guwahati, the SpiceJet flight is the first one to be operated under the International Air Connectivity Scheme (IACS).

Direct air connectivity of Assam with all the capitals of Southeast Asian countries is a goal of state government, Sonowal said.


In a statement, the state government said the Centre launched the IACS on a request from the chief minister to consider connecting Guwahati with the capitals of Asean and BBN countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal) through a scheme similar to the UDAN programme for regional connectivity.

The Assam government has committed Rs 100 crore a year for three years for viability gap funding for flights operated under the IACS.

Another flight connecting Guwahati with Bangkok is likely to be started shortly, along with flights to Kathmandu, Yangon, Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur, the state government said.

Sonowal hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s steps to bring rapid and holistic development to the region. “Because of the connectivity thrust of both the central and state governments, Assam farmers have been able to export their produce to markets of Singapore, Abu Dhabi, etc., through cargo flights and it enabled the farmers here to expand their horizons,” he said.

With the launch of the flight services between Guwahati and Dhaka, SpiceJet now operates two flights under the IACS.