FLIGHT TRAINING ACADEMY AT LILABARI AIRPORT IN ASSAM

The first flight training academy in the North East was inaugurated at Lilabari airport in Assam’s Lakhimpur district on April 19, 2022. The Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Himanta Biswa Sarma Chief Minister of Assam formally declared the Redbird Flight Training Academy open. “This is a historic day for the North East. The region is getting its first pilot training academy after 75 years of Independence,” Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters after the inauguration. The Union Minister stated that another such academy would be set up at Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a series of tweets, said that his government had handed over 84 acres of land for the development of a basic airstrip and the construction of an isolation bay at the academy. “Nearly 200 pilots will be trained at the academy where ten per cent of the seats will be reserved to which the Government of Assam can sponsor aspirants from lower and lower middle class families,” he said. The Chief Minister said his government was working towards the development of existing airports in the state. “For expansion and modernisation of existing airports in the State, the Government of Assam will hand over land to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the near future,” he tweeted.” Also, as requested by Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Minister of Civil Aviation, our Government will take an appropriate decision regarding the reduction of VAT on aviation fuel,” he added.