Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday flagged off India’s first UDAN flight which provides affordable regional air travel to citizens. UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Nagrik) is the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of the Ministry of Aviation, Government of India. While inaugurating the scheme, PM Modi said, “I want to see people who wear ‘Hawaii chappals’ (rubber slippers) in a ‘hawai jahaaz’ (aircraft).”

What is UDAN scheme?

UDAN scheme aims to provide air connectivity to the under-served and unserved airports of the country. This is a first-of-its-kind scheme in the world to “stimulate” regional connectivity in India through a “market-based mechanism. The scheme aims to connect 70 airports of the country. The first UDAN flight inaugurated by PM Modi would fly on Delhi-Shimla route.

UDAN Ticket Price

Under the UDAN scheme, the maximum airfare has been capped at Rs 2500 for a one-hour journey of approximately 500 kilometre on an aircraft or for a 30-minute journey on a helicopter. The scheme also has a provision of proportionate pricing for routes of different stage lengths/flight duration.

On each flight, 50 per cent of the seats would be available for booking at maximum Rs 2500 per seat for an hour.

A little over half of the seats in the Shimla-bound flight, operated by Air India subsidiary Alliance Air with a plane having 42-seater plane, are being sold at the discounted fare of Rs 2,036, inclusive of taxes. On the flight to Shimla, 24 seats are sold at the discounted ticket price and for the rest, fares would be market driven. In the return leg, all the 15 seats come under the UDAN fare bucket.

UDAN Flight Routes

All UDAN flight routes are to become operational in a phased manner. At  present, UDAN flights on Delhi-Shimla, Nanded-Hyderabad and Kadapa-Hyderabad sectors are available.

The UDAN flights would connect airports spread over 20 states and Union territories including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Airports to be connected under the scheme includes Bhatinda, Shimla, Bilaspur, Neyveli, Cooch Behar, Nanded and Kadapa.

The next flight to take off under the scheme would operate on the Mumbai-Nanded sector.

(Source: Indian Express)

How to book UDAN flight tickets?

You can book tickets under the UDAN scheme online from the websites of respective airlines and also through different air ticket vendors like Yatra and MakeMyTrip.

UDAN Airline Operators

Alliance Air, Air Deccan, SpiceJet, Air Odisha and True Jets.

The five airlines have won bids to operate on 128 routes that would connect 70 airports. Out of these, 31 are unserved and 12 under-served airport.

Air Odisha would operate on 50 routes, Air Deccan on 34, Turbo Megha Airways on 18, Air India subsidiary Alliance Air on 15 and SpiceJet on 11 routes.

(With agency inputs)