New Delhi, Oct 30 (PTI) Two new international routes under the regional air connectivity scheme will be operationalised, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Sunday after inaugurating three flights that will connect five cities in the North East.

Scindia along with Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen (Retd) V K Singh inaugurated the operations of three flights connecting five cities of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Mizoram, according to an official release.

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The flights connecting Imphal-Aizawl-Imphal and Lilabari-Ziro-Lilabari commenced from Sunday while the services on the Shillong-Lilabari-Shillong route will start from October 31.

These flights have been started under the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN.

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Under international UDAN, two new routes Agartala-Chittagong-Agartala and Imphal-Mandalay-Imphal will be operationalised. This will expand the scope of air connectivity in the North Eastern states from national to the international level, Scindia said.

Chittagong is in Bangladesh and Mandalay in Myanmar.

The Union government has given special emphasis on the air connectivity for the North Eastern region, he said, adding that in the last eight years, seven airports have been developed in the region.

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