More than 1.3 crore passengers have travelled on UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) flights, which have operated 2.56 lakh flights so far. The Minister of Civil Aviation (State) Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
UDAN is a scheme launched on October 21, 2016 by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to make air travel affordable and accessible for the common people. It aims to connect unserved and underserved airports in the country with regular flights. UDAN is a market-driven scheme, where airlines bid for routes based on their demand assessment.
How has UDAN benefited the country?
UDAN has been successful in developing and operationalising 76 airports, including 2 water aerodromes and 9 helipads, across different regions of the country. More than 133.86 lakh passengers have travelled on UDAN flights, which have operated 2.56 lakh flights so far.
UDAN has also boosted the aviation sector by promoting the procurement of different types of aircraft, such as 3 seater Tecnam, 9 seater Cessna 208B, 19 seater Twin Otter, 50 seater Embraer 145, 42/72/78 seater ATR and Q-400, as well as bigger aircraft like 189 seater Airbus 320/321 and B737. 13 airlines, including start-ups like Air Taxi, IndiaOne, Star Air, FlyBig and Fly91, have started operations under UDAN.
What are the incentives and support for airlines under UDAN?
To encourage airlines to operate on these routes, they are given various incentives and support by the airport operators, the Central Government and the State Governments. These include:
- Reduced or waived charges for landing, parking, navigation and facilitation at RCS-UDAN Airports.
- Lower excise duty and VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) at RCS-UDAN Airports.
- Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to cover the gap between cost and revenue.
- Freedom to enter into code-sharing arrangements with other airlines, domestic or international.
- Self-ground handling at all airports.
- Free land, security, fire services, electricity, water and other utilities at RCS-UDAN Airports.
Under this Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) scheme, 519 routes are operational including 53 tourism & 48 helicopter routes.
