SpiceJet, flagged off a daily direct flight on the Kolkata-Lilabari route, under the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN. The un-served market of Lilabari, located in the Lakhimpur district of Assam, is the airline’s ninth destination under UDAN. The route was awarded to SpiceJet under UDAN II.

SpiceJet is one of India’s largest and most organized regional player operating a fleet of 45 Boeing MAX and NG aircraft and 27 Bombardier Q400 planes. With the launch of the new flights, SpiceJet now operates a total of 54 flights in and out of North East and 6 flights within the North East Region.

Chief marketing officer, SpiceJet, Debojo Maharshi, said, “Lilabari is SpiceJet’s first destination in Assam under the UDAN scheme and we are extremely delighted to launch services on the KolkataLilabari route. Enhancing connectivity to the NorthEast has always been on top of our agenda and hence connectivity to Lilabari holds high importance. Owing to its proximity to Arunachal Pradesh, the airport will serve both the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.”

Passengers from Lilabari can now easily travel to a host of other cities both on SpiceJet’s domestic as well as international network via multiple onward connections from Kolkata.

With the addition of the Kolkata-Lilabari -Kolkata flight, SpiceJet now operates 23 flights under UDAN on the routes of Delhi-KishangarhDelhi, Kolkata-PakyongKolkata, Guwahati-PakyongGuwahati, Mumbai-Porbandar, Mumbai-Kandla-Mumbai, Hyderabad-Puducherry-Hyderabad, JaipurJaisalmer-Jaipur, DelhiAdampur-Delhi, AhmedabadJaisalmer-Ahmedabad, SuratJaisalmer-Surat and Delhi-Kanpur-Delhi.

In line with the aviation tradition to mark key milestones, the inaugural flight was greeted with a grand water cannon salute upon its arrival at Lilabari airport. The airline also hosted a flag-off ceremony at Lilabari Airport which was graced by Lakhimpur MP Pardan Baruah, in the presence of senior AAI and government officials, important dignitaries and SpiceJet staff. The launch was initiated with the customary lamp lighting ceremony followed by the ribboncutting ceremony marking the formal announcement of the new flight service. The first passenger was welcomed and gifted a memento by the dignitaries.

With a focus on enhancing connectivity, SpiceJet has also launched flights on Kolkata-Jabalpur, HyderabadJabalpur, Hyderabad-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Pune, HyderabadCoimbatore, Chennai-Varanasi and Chennai-Shirdi routes starting from 1 January 2019.

SpiceJet was awarded 22 new sectors under the Government of India’s UDAN II. Out of these 22, 19 catered to unserved markets of Kannur (Kerala), Darbhanga (Bihar), Ozar (Nashik), Pakyong (Sikkim), Kishangarh (Rajasthan), Lilabari (Assam), Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu), Bokaro ( Jharkhand) and Solapur (Maharashtra) whereas three were for the underserved market of Hubli (Karnataka).