The government of the state of Meghalaya, in northeastern India, revealed that it is preparing a bid to enable the operation of Embraer jets from Shillong Airport, which currently only receives turboprops.
According to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, the plan is for the aircraft to be able to shorten the flight time to the capital New Delhi. Six weekly flights are expected, each lasting 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Situated in a predominantly mountainous region, the airport had part of the surrounding hills removed to expand the runway in 2017.
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However, the 1,800-meter length does not allow the operation of jets such as the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320. For this reason, an aircraft with up to 72 seats from Embraer would be the most viable solution.
Although it did not mention which one it would be, the description suggests it is the E175, which flies mainly in the US in a 76-seat configuration.
The local government also plans to make routes to Hyderabad and Mumbai viable in the future.
Embraer has an Indian customer, Star Air, which operates ERJ 145 jets and recently added four leased E175s.
