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Shillong, Nov 14: Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma today inaugurated the 6th Helicopter & Small Aircraft Summit 2024 at Courtyard, Marriott, Shillong.
The summit organised by Pawan Hans Ltd and FICCI and supported by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India and the Government of Meghalaya is an initiative to expand the scope of the helicopter as well as small aircraft sector across the country.
In his address, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, thanking the Ministry of Civil aviation for having chosen Shillong to host this summit said it is a privilege to host an aviation summit in the state of which is the first of its kind in the North East, India.
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“I would like to further endorse that Shillong is the right place to hold such a summit because our terrain requires the use of small aircrafts and helicopters for air travel and other socio-economic activities,” he said.
He further said that when it comes to connectivity and its issues that the North-Eastern Region faces, particularly Meghalaya; air travel plays a very important role in achieving the wide gamut of goals that the state is striving towards.
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“I would like to stress that we should not limit our perspective to the role of air connectivity within the North-Eastern States of India alone but look at its potential in the entire South Asian region. A flight from Shillong to Dhaka is less than 30 minutes, Shillong to Bangkok would be roughly 1 hour 15 minutes and certain capitals of many countries in SouthEast Asia are closer than our national Capital. It takes two and a half hours to travel to Delhi, but it is shorter for us to travel from Shillong to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and many other locations. If we were to broaden our horizons to the entire Act East Zone, we would see the real potential in this entire exercise and can leverage this to our advantage to boost Tourism, Medical Assistance, Trade, Logistics and other major socio-economic activities,” he stated.
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In relation to the development of aviation in Meghalaya, the Chief Minister said that the government is working aggressively to upgrade and optimise Tourism, Trade, Health Services and other sectors and suggested stakeholders to think on the lines of tourism circuits in the state to boost Tourism.
He urged all stakeholders involved to support in their area of expertise from investors, technical experts, service providers and the like. “The Government will handhold in the initial stages and provide continued support to bring about a convergence in all sectors to achieve the goal of an efficient and vibrant aviation ecosystem in the state and the region,” he added.
Speaking on the way forward, the Chief Minister said, “There is a wide gamut of aviation services which can be leveraged from delivering medicines to logistics which can be fine-tuned and implemented to bring change and transformation at the grass-root level”.
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In conclusion, he said, “I am excited for the UDAN Scheme version 5.5 for seaplanes and helicopters, as this scheme is one of the most important schemes in the Northeast. It would take us about 20 hours to travel by bus on the road from Shillong to other state capitals and now with the implementation of the UDAN Scheme travelling will become easier, saving precious time. I congratulate the Ministry of Civil Aviation particularly Shri Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Hon’ble Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India for his efforts to improve the Aviation landscape in the state and the country.”
The event was attended by various stakeholders from the helicopter and small aircraft industry, including operators, OEMs, MRO providers, regulators, Financing & Leasing companies, and the representatives from different state governments.
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